The NYPD has taken down a massive organized retail crime ring that stole millions of dollars in goods and resold them on eBay, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other government officials announced.
Forty-one people have been charged for their roles in the crime ring that stole luxury clothing and merchandise, as well as thousands of items from drug stores. The indictments are the result of a three-year investigation between the NYPD and the Office of the Attorney General, which also led to the seizure of $3.8 million worth of stolen retail items from the enterprise’s alleged boss, Roni Rubinov.
Rubinov and his cohorts, Yuriy Khodzhandiyev and Rafik Israilov, are alleged to have hired “boosters” to steal specific merchandise and gift cards from retailers. Rubinov then purchased the stolen goods for fractions of the retail price and resold them for profit on an eBay store called Treasure-Deals-USA.
The following stolen goods were seized:
- Designer clothing, handbags, belts, and shoes;
- Cosmetics;
- Over the counter medications;
- Miscellaneous drug store items;
- Tools and electronics;
- Coffee; and
- Over 550 gift cards from approximately 60 different retailers, including Amazon, Home Depot, Walgreens, Visa, Apple iTunes, Modell’s, Lowe’s, Kmart, American Express and Pottery Barn
In December of 2019, Rubinov signed a lease for a large warehouse space located in Fresh Meadows, NY, where he planned to open a “department store” like facility stocked with stolen property.
The defendants are being charged with various counts of enterprise corruption, money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, scheme to defraud, and conspiracy. If convicted, Rubinov, Khodzhandiyev and Israilov each face up to 8 to 25 years in prison.