NYC Dismantles Sophisticated Luxury Goods Theft Ring – NBC New York

Law enforcement announced the arrest of the suspected ringleader of a sophisticated theft ring of luxury goods from stores including Bloomingdale’s, Sephora and other retail outlets.

The 41-member gang resold the stolen merchandise on Amazon and eBay. The ringleader, identified as Roni Rubinov, even signed a lease in 2019 on a warehouse in which he planned to open a kind of “department store” for stolen goods, the Mayor’s Office said Thursday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed the alleged scam at a press conference in Lower Manhattan, describing a “massive retail theft operation” in which a team fanned out across the city to steal merchandise from stores. The indictment includes charges of criminal possession of stolen property and money laundering.

James and Adams said police seized more than $3.8 million in stolen property from Rubinov, citing more than 550 gift cards and cash.

“It wasn’t just shoplifting, it was people going into stores and cleaning shelves” as part of an organized scam, Adams said. In an apparent reference to criticism of the prosecution of shoplifters, he said “this was greed” and that cracking down on it was not “criminalizing poverty.”

Adams added that the raid showed that he “will not tolerate street crime, retail crime or organized crime” in New York City.

James, for his part, promised to “restore an environment in which New Yorkers feel safe and secure.” He was also committed to protecting the city’s businesses and upholding the rule of law.

The investigation was driven in part by the business community. Kathryn Wylde, executive director of the Partnership for New York City, raised the issue with officials several times in the past year, James said. New York City Police Department investigators also worked with security teams from Macy’s, Rite Aid, CVS Pharmacy and Lowe’s. The stolen goods included cosmetics and other pharmacy items.

That kind of collaboration is common in the city, with some retailers even paying NYPD officers to work their stores on off-duty shifts. In fiscal year 2021, retailers spent about $32 million on those shifts, a 70% increase from the previous four years, according to city budget figures.

Retailers have been sounding the alarm about organized theft and grand theft, but it’s unclear how prevalent they are. Theft accounts for an average of 0.07% of sales per year, according to the National Retail Federation. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged more than $250 million to help combat retail theft, and the state attorney general’s office is poised to create a dedicated unit.

Last year, New York City reported its third-lowest grand theft total (theft of more than $1,000) in a decade, though the Police Department’s figures for crime include thefts beyond retailers. Still, such incidents are up 52% ​​so far this year.

The state has recently recategorized property theft as a more serious crime. A 2019 law that eliminated cash bail and ordered the release of people arrested for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies while awaiting their court date was revised in April, after critics blamed the change by an increase in crime, despite a lack of evidence.

Under the original law, a judge could not hold a defendant on cash bail for larceny. With review, judges can set bail in some cases.

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