Organized theft ring made nearly $300,000 using three different schemes at national retail stores

December 22, 2004 CONTACT: COREY WELFORD (617) 727-2543

BOSTON – Four people have been sentenced for their participation in an organized theft ring that ran three different schemes to steal nearly $300,000 in cash, retail merchandise, and merchandise credits from national retail stores located throughout the northeast, Attorney General Tom Reilly announced.

Herion Karbunara, 25, of Woburn, the leader of the alleged theft ring, pleaded guilty to three counts each of larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny, and one count of forgery. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Paul A. Chernoff sentenced him to two years in the House of Corrections with 14 months to serve. Karbunara was also ordered to pay restitution of an amount to be determined.  

Also sentenced today were Lindsey Holland, 20, and Helen Macy, 21, both of East Boston. Holland pleaded guilty today to one count each of larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny. She was sentenced to two years probation with six months to serve on an electronic bracelet. She was also ordered to stay away from certain retail establishments involved in this case and make restitution of an amount to be determined.

Macy pleaded guilty to one count each of larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny. She was sentenced to one year of probation with 50 hours of community service and an order to stay away from retail establishments. Anne Leeman, 39, of South Boston, who pleaded guilty on November 10 was sentenced to 18 months of probation with 50 hours of community service and an order to stay away from retail establishments linked to this case. Charges remain against Christine DeGrandis, 33, of Dorchester. The investigation found that from January 2002 until December 2003, Karbunara and many conspirators had been stealing merchandise, cash and retail credit from national retailers using three different schemes. Karbunara, the leader of the theft ring, amassed a profit of over $300,000 running these schemes. Karbunara would pay his conspirators between $40 and $200 per day for their work in the various schemes.  

Last December, State Police arrested Karbunara, Holland, Macy and DeGrandis after several months of investigation into one of the schemes run by the theft ring, which included intense undercover operations and field surveillance by State Police and investigators assigned to AG Reilly’s Criminal Bureau.

The investigation found that from January 2002 through July 2003, Karbunara and his associates used a “buy once, return twice” scheme. Karbunara and others stole large quantities of merchandise from retail stores and would then make a purchase by credit or debit card of the same items so that they could obtain a legitimate store receipt for the items. Karbunara would then scan the legitimate receipt, create a computer image that he could manipulate and print out counterfeit receipts for the stolen items. Karbunara and others would then return the items to receive a credit on their credit and debit cards, first using the legitimate receipt and then using the counterfeit receipts, sometimes on several occasions.

In July 2002, Karbunara added another scheme and began running the “tag team” scheme. Karbunara and others continued to steal merchandise but in addition to making purchases to obtain receipts, the group began returning the stolen merchandise without receipts for store credits. The investigation uncovered that as a tag team, two people, a male and female, would enter the store with stolen goods, a forged receipt and a fraudulently obtained merchandise credit. One person told the store clerk that they had recently purchased some items and had just learned that the other person had a merchandise credit they wanted to use. The team would then convince the clerk to credit their debit or credit card with the value of the goods and re-purchase the same goods with the merchandise credit. As a result, the couple converted the merchandise credit into cash.  

Beginning in March 2003, the group began a third scheme, selling merchandise credits on the Ebay website. Karbunara and others continued to steal merchandise and return it for merchandise credits for this particular scheme. However, instead of converting the merchandise to cash at a store with the “tag team” scheme, Karbunara then sold those merchandise credits  on the Ebay website at a discount from the face value of the merchandise credit.  

Investigators began looking into the case in September 2003 after AG Reilly’s Office was contacted by a retailer who reported one of their store credits was being auctioned online after Leeman returned merchandise that had apparently been stolen from the store.

Investigators found that Karbunara, acting as “apolonia1trading,” posted more than 600 store credits for sale from well-known, national retailers. The store credits ranged in price anywhere from $200 to $1,200. Through the online sales of the store credits, Karbunara made approximately 76 cents for every dollar he stole. In total, the investigation found that the group earned more than $200,000 in profits from the online sale of the store credits.

Some of the retailers who had their store credits sold on Ebay by this ring include: Williams-Sonoma, Talbots, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, Sharper Image, J. Jill, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, Restoration Hardware, Victoria Secret, Eastern Mountain Sports, Sephora and J. Crew. The investigation alleges that merchandise was stolen and returned to malls in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, New York and Connecticut.  

Ebay, and several of the affected retailers, including Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn, cooperated with the Attorney General’s investigation.  

Assistant Attorney General Denise Barton of AG Reilly’s Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crime Division prosecuted the case, which was investigated by State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office and Financial Investigator SallyAnn Nelligan