Man charged in dispensary embezzlement

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

An Edmond man is accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a marijuana dispensary in Midwest City.

Mahammad Fnu Younas, 42, was charged with one felony count of embezzlement – over $1,000.

According to an affidavit, Midwest City police officer Joshua Mize was contacted by the owner of K for Kush, 7003 E. Reno Ave., about an employee who embezzled a large sum of money.

The owner told police that he hired Younas to manage the store in December 2021 at a request from a friend. He said Younas managed the store by himself for about three years, working 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. and rarely taking days off.

According to the affidavit, the owner said he assumed business had slowed down during that time. He was contacted by the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority for an audit, so he began an inventory of the store in March. After noticing that the books did not line up with inventory, he confronted Younas at his house in Edmond on June 22.

Younas allegedly admitted to stealing about $600-$800 cash every day while he was working at the store. The owner said Younas apologized and promised to repay the money if he did not press charges. Younas said he is currently in the immigration process, according to the report.

Younas transferred $142,000 to the man from two bank accounts. On July 2, Younas gave him $322,000 in cash from a safety deposit box.

The owner said that about $200,000 was still missing from the estimated $644,000 that was embezzled. Younas never came forward with the rest of the money, so the man contacted police.

According to the affidavit, the store owner provided police with video and audio recordings of Younas apologizing. The video is in Urdu language. He also submitted photos of a money ledger he found in Younas’ bedroom, bank statements, and business sales and tax information.

Police submitted the audio recordings to the FBI, which confirmed the conversations were in Urdu. They confirmed that Younas never admitted to the wrongdoing, but apologized several times and said he would make it right.

The owner had the audio recordings transcribed by Language Associates in Oklahoma City. The transcription lined up with what the FBI advised, according to the affidavit.