NEW YORK (AP) -- A shoplifting ring that stole nearly $2 million in clothes and beauty products from Macy's and other well-known stores in the U.S. and then resold them in New York City and the Dominican Republic has been busted, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday.
Five New Yorkers have been charged with felony possession of stolen property, conspiracy and other related crimes, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
The bust served as a reminder to shoppers as the holiday shopping season kicks off in earnest with Black Friday this week to make sure they are supporting legitimate establishments, she said.
"When a deal seems too good to be true, I guarantee you, it's too good to be true," Katz said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who joined the district attorney and other law enforcement officials in Queens, said the arrests also marked the first time anyone has been charged under a measure she recently signed into law to crack down on the sale of stolen goods online and in brick-and-mortar locations.
Nationally, businesses have lost about $4 billion to organized retail crime since 2021, which in turn has cost federal and local governments billions in lost tax revenue and increased costs for consumers, said William Walker, who heads the federal Homeland Security Investigations' New York field office.
The average American family is estimated to pay over $500 more annually in additional costs because of retail theft, he said.
Katz, the district attorney, said the group stole high-end makeup, perfume, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories from stores ranging from Macy's to Victoria's Secret, American Eagle, Sephora and Ulta Beauty over a roughly two-year period.
The group's leaders, a couple from Queens, directed shoplifting crews to steal specific merchandise as they hit multiple stores in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and elsewhere along the East Coast, she said.
They also paid truck drivers to divert products bound for retailers from manufacturer warehouses directly to locations under their control.
The group, operating out of a home in Queens, then resold the merchandise online as well as at a brick-and-mortar boutique called Yvelisse Fashion in Santiago, a city in the Dominican Republic.
Tuesday's announcement is part of a broader push from Hochul to counter Republican criticisms that Democrats in New York are soft on public safety issues, an issue that hurt her party in the 2022 midterm elections and has remained a consistent talking point for the GOP.
Earlier this year, Hochul signed off on a handful of policies aimed at cracking down on retail theft, including increased criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, new funding for law enforcement teams dedicated to retail theft and tax credits for businesses to install security cameras.
She also approved policies that allow prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when filing larceny charges and made it easier to criminally charge third-party sellers of stolen goods.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
