A Walmart store in Fort Pierce, Florida admits misusing $20,000 of a gift donation from Chicago Bears linebacker Khalil Mack to pay off 350 layaways for Christmas.
TCPalm.com reports Mack’s foundation approached store management and asked to “be a secret Santa.”
Mack, a native of Fort Pierce, donated $80,000 to the Walmart location to pay off 350 layaways totaling $60,000.
The store manager disbursed the remaining $20,000 to store employees. It isn’t clear if the manager intentionally overinflated the total cost of the layaways.
In a statement, a Walmart spokesman admitted the store management “misused” the $20,000.
“We have determined the site did not handle the transaction in keeping with Walmart’s guidelines and have taken corrective action,” company spokesperson Delia Garcia said in a statement.
A store employee alerted Walmart’s corporate office to the misused funds. The whistleblower did not receive a share of the $20,000.
Garcia did not say how many employees received the $20,000.
Mack’s charitable donation made headlines after the store sent out a tweet, writing: “If you have an active Holiday Layaway account at your local Ft. Pierce Walmart, your account has been paid off!”
