After taking meetings with a potential buyer for a few weeks and showing him around the store, a local business owner’s coffers were minus $8,000 when the man allegedly took the money without the owner’s permission.

According to Jim Bove, Redmond Police Department’s community outreach facilitator, the owner of the small grocery store in the 8000 block of 161st Avenue Northeast downtown said the theft took place at 4 p.m. on June 28, but he didn’t report the incident to police until 11:08 p.m.

The store is up for sale and the potential buyer presented the owner with a contract during one of their meetings, but the owner said he had to examine it before moving forward with the sale process.

On June 28, the potential buyer — whom Bove said owns a small grocery store in Lynnwood — allegedly entered the Redmond shop and asked an employee for the money to pay transfer companies for the supposed sale of the business. The employee believed the story and handed over the money, Bove said.

The potential buyer is under investigation and has met with detectives. He has not been arrested.

“These types of cases can take several months because it takes time to get warrants, banking statements if needed, and working with the witnesses. These are complex cases that involve a lot of data to sift through,” Bove said.