A Brooklyn man faces a theft charge in Schuylkill County after police say he used his former employer’s social media access to run a bogus Easter dinner reservation scheme.
Kenneth Pardovani, 42, is charged with one misdemeanor count of theft by deception.
State Police say the investigation began after a Blythe Township woman reported a theft. The victim told police she saw a Facebook advertisement on April 2 for an Easter dinner at Fountain Springs Country Inn in Butler Township. She called the phone number listed in the advertisement and spoke to a man who identified himself as “Ken.” The victim provided the man with her credit card numbers to reserve the dinner and was then charged $67.84 for a two-person reservation.
The following day, the victim received another phone call from the man asking if she was still coming to the dinner. The victim described the man as aggressive, which caused her to become suspicious.
Shortly after, the manager of the restaurant contacted the victim. The manager informed the victim that “Ken” was a prior employee who previously had access to the business’s online marketing tools, police say. According to the manager, the Pardovani had been released from the company and was no longer authorized to access those accounts. Management attempted to remove his access, but the Pardovani continued to recover it and alter the business contact information to his personal phone number.
The manager told police that the company became aware of multiple similar incidents after other customers contacted the restaurant.
During the investigation, police coordinated with local officers who identified the man as Pardovani. Police say Pardovani had previously provided the same phone number listed in the fraudulent advertisement to officers during a separate interaction. State Police records also confirmed that Pardovani was linked to that specific phone number during prior documented interactions.
Pardovani has another criminal case pending against him in Schuylkill County from an incident that allegedly occurred at the restaurant back in March. He’s facing felony burglary and criminal trespass charges as well as misdemeanor counts of defiant trespass and theft. Those charges were held for Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas at a preliminary hearing.
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