Jun
18
2013
Alex Giauque
Loss Prevention Blog
UPDATE: 7-Eleven Managers Charged with ID Theft Names Released
Farrukh and Bushra Baig, a married couple who owned or managed a dozen of the convenience stores, along with seven other owner-managers, were charged with identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants, Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Monday. The defendants are accused of using stolen identities from 20 victims to mask the true identities of their illegal workers to 7-Eleven Corp. Authorities have arrested all but one of the defendants. Most of the defendants, including the Baigs, are naturalized citizens, authorities said, and all of them live on Long Island. The defendants are from Pakistan or the Philippines, and allegedly exploited people from their own home countries, said the authorities. Victims alerted the authorities to the alleged crime, despite their own vulnerable situation in the U.S. Lynch said Azhar Zia, 49, of Great River, N.Y., is a fugitive from justice. (Source fox2now.com)
John Menard Denies Sexual Claims
A lawsuit claims the hardware kingpin pressured a business partner’s wife to have sex with him and his wife. After being turned down, he retaliated with firings and lawsuits. Menard denies the claims of Tomisue Hilbert. In the lawsuit, filed May 29, Hilbert accuses him of extortion, battery, assault and breach of fiduciary duty for actions including firing her husband as CEO of the equity funds he and Menard had founded together in 2005. (Source wbay.com)
LVMH opens its workshop doors to consumers in 6 European countries.
Dior, Berluti, Chaumet, Dom Pérignon and Guerlain, are just a few of the brand names of the 60 that make up LVMH. Consumers are interested in the craftsmanship that goes into to these high end products, so LVMH held an event last year to open its facilities to the public. In the first few days over 100,000 people attended. This year the event reaches facilities in 6 countries. (Source nytimes.com)
Royal Baby Fever Could Boost Retail
The British royal family joined retailers in welcoming the new heir to the family, offering baby products that could boost the economy by 240 million pounds (374 million US dollars). (Source yahoo.com)
BJ’s Celebrates 200th Location in Fayetteville, NC
The new location will feature a fresh bakery, café, deli, optical services, rotisserie chicken, tire center, gas station and even a Verizon Wireless Kiosk. The grand opening celebrations will be on Friday June 21st through the whole weekend. Reusable shopping bags will be given away and food and beverages will be available to sample for members and the public. The retailer is providing a gift card to the USO of Fayetteville to support the Airport Travel Center, and they are donating money to the Junior League of Fayetteville to sponsor their fundraiser. (Source retailingtoday.com)
Czech Republic Welcomes 800 Jobs and Lego Factory
Lego announced that it would expand a factory in the Czech Republic and create 800 jobs to help meet demand for the popular toy. The expansion is expected to be done in 2015. Last year, in part due to the introduction of a new series of building blocks designed for girls, sales climbed 25 percent for Lego. (Source yahoo.com)
Toys R Us Feels Cold Weather in their Q1 Sales
The retailer dipped in their first quarter, reporting net sales of $2.4 billion, a decrease of 8% from last year’s quarter. The store saw decreases in store net sales in juvenile, seasonal and entertainment departments. Interim CEO Antonio Urcelay said, “Similar to other retailers, our soft sales in the first quarter were partially impacted by the ongoing challenges of the global economic environment and the prolonged cool weather conditions around the world.” (Source retailingtoday.com)
Home Depot to Launch Hurricane Preparedness Workshops
The workshops are schedules for July 27 in coastal areas, even though hurricane season officially began on June 1st. The retailer is taking a risk that any ‘meaningful storms’ won’t come until the season is already upon us. The workshop will cover storm preparation projects, generator safety, sizing generators for homes or business needs, and putting together disaster preparedness kits. The workshops will be free to attend. (Source retailingtoday.com)
Urban Outfitters Takes Prescription Drug Paraphernalia Off Shelves
Earlier this year, the Daily reported that the retail store was getting pressured into getting their prescription bottle shot glasses off the shelves. Now, the retailer has given in and agreed to pull the shot glasses, prescription label flasks and pint glasses from the shelves. In a statement to CNN last week, the retailer stated “In this extensive range of product we recognize that from time to time there may be individual items that are misinterpreted by people who are not our consumer. As a result of this misinterpretation we are electing to discontinue these few styles from our current product offering.” The petition that had requested the store to take the product off the shelves happened in May. (Source retailingtoday.com)
Bureau of Justice Assistance Helps Law Enforcement with Major-Event Planning
The BJA developed the “Planning Primer” to provide local law enforcement officials with tools to better plan for security in major events. With the number of opportunities that comes with large-scale events, the law enforcement has a bigger responsibility to keep the public safe. The “Planning Primer” includes guidelines on pre-event planning, post-event activities, and even has checklists and actionable templates in the Appendix. (Source bja.gov)
Smart Phone Security Features to Meet Dept. of Defense Standards
The team at the Defense Information Systems Agency will work with mobile device vendors to make sure the security standards are up to the DoD’s standards. DISA has been helping Samsung with their mobile security software for the Android phones, and if it meets the correct standards, the DoD would ‘authorize the use of devices that employ the mobile security system.’ (Source govinfosecurity.com)
Retailers Are Catching On: Technology Is the Key
Retailers are increasingly seeing that technology is driving customer growth and the omnichannel approach needs to be taken to reach customers. According to the 2013 Retail Outlook Survey, retail executives are going to spend more money to enhance technology, as well as in areas of geographic expansion and advertising/marketing. Executives said social media, online shopping, and mobile promotions and coupons have had the most impact on their businesses. Even with cloud computing, more than 68% indicated they adopted or will adopt cloud technologies. (Source drugstorenews.com)
Today’s Teens Prefer Brick and Mortar Shopping
Although most of today’s teenagers have spend their lives having the internet and smart phones all around them, three quarter’s of the 5,000 male and female teens surveyed prefer to go to the stores to do their shopping. This brings good news to retailers, with the increasing rise of technology and online shopping. (Source theatlantic.com)
Criminals, Prepare for a Social Media Scolding
In Kent, Ohio, if you’re up to no good you will be scolded by police Chief David Oliver and some of his departments Facebook fans. Oliver does not go easy on his targets, and certainly doesn’t leave anyone out: He wrote last year about someone, not in the slightest bit handicapped, parking in a handicapped space, saying ‘You are milking the system and it aggravates those of us who play by the rules. Ignoring us does not make you invisible. We see you, loser.’ His blunt opinions and direct sarcasm only gets him more likes on the social media site, ranking his page to be among one of the most-liked local law enforcement pages in the country. (Source yahoo.com)
Smartphone App Launched to Help Stop Shoplifters
Hampshire Constabulary joined Facewatch, an online crime reporting system which contains pictures of those suspected of committing retail offences in Festival Place. The public can download this app and see the images. They then can anonymously submit names and addresses to the offenders they recognize. The app has already been used by the British Transport Police and forces in London and Surrey. (Source thisishampshire.net)
Alaskan Man gets DUI on Motorized Shopping Cart
The man was shoplifting desserts from the Fred Meyer store, while on one of the store’s motorized shopping carts when he thought it would be a good idea to take the cart for a spin in the parking lot, and then join traffic. This wasn’t the first time he had pulled a stunt like this, however! He had tried to steal a box of chocolate chip cookies and cake mix, but was caught by one of the employees. (Source consumerist.com)
Police seize $275K in counterfeit goods in Myrtle Beach
More than $275,000 worth of counterfeit goods were seized from Myrtle Beach businesses at the conclusion of an investigation by Myrtle Beach Police, the Department of Homeland Security and the SC Secretary of State’s Office. Two men, Leon Koretzky, owner of Grasshopper and David Ohana, owner of Nothing Over $7.95 were charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods. Beki Boutboul of Best For Less was charged with distribution of counterfeit goods. The counterfeit items seized included hats, clothing, jewelry and stickers which misrepresent that brands of MLB, Nike, Hello Kitty, NFL, NBA, Jake Daniels, Warner Brothers, Polo, Harley Davidson and others. If convicted of distributing counterfeit merchandise, the store owners could be sentenced to pay a fine up to $20,000 or spend up to five years in jail. (Source wmbfnews.com)
Florida Man Sentenced for Sending Counterfeit Razor Blades to Michigan Meijer Stores
Jeffrey Telsey plead guilty to sending Gillette razor blades to the retail stores. He had a legitimate business selling leftover beauty and health merchandise, but mixed in were the imported counterfeit blades from China. (Source wptv.com)
Shots fired inside a Petco store in Titusville, Florida; no one injured.
Brevard County is investigating two armed robberies of two Petco stores over the weekend. The gunman first approached an associate at 6:30pm about applying for a job at the store, then pulled out a handgun. Two shots were fired at employees, one bullet hitting the cash register. The suspect got away without any merchandise or cash. (Source clickorlando.com)
Four suspects arrested in Rochester AT&T store burglary.
Four Rochester men are under arrest for stealing more than $10,000 worth of electronics from an AT&T store. Early on the morning of June 14, a Genesee County sheriff’s deputy saw a suspicious car and then noticed the AT&T Premier Technology store had been broken into. The driver of the car was immediately taken into custody, while three other suspects fled on foot. Two of them were caught about an hour later as they tried to cross the New York State Thruway. The stolen electronics were recovered. (Source wivb.com)
Seattle QFC Employee Attacked by Shoplifter
The employee was on break, and was attacked by a known shoplifter just outside the store. The victim was wearing his work uniform, when the suspect walked towards them, chest-bumped the employee, pinning him against a railing and then yelled in his face about having never shoplifted before. The man then started choking the victim to the point of being unable to breathe. The victim was able to knock the man’s hands away, but the suspect ran off. (Source komonews.com)
Men Wearing Hazmat Suits rob Jared’s Jewelry Store in Woodlands, TX
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a robbery at a Woodlands jewelry store where five people entered the store wearing hazmat suits. Investigators determined the suspects walked in the front door, were in the store for one to two minutes. The suspects broke several glass display cases while taking jewelry. At least one of the suspects had a handgun. (Source khou.com)
Seattle camera store employee dragged 75 feet by shoplifting suspect’s car.
Two men entered the Glazer’s Camera shop in Seattle and grabbed a camera and lens worth over $10,000 and fled the store. The two men reportedly got into a car parked on the street. But, before they could drive off an employee grabbed the passenger-side door and forced it back open. While the employee held the door open, a second employee grabbed the stolen camera from between the front seats and wrestled over it with the two men. The suspects drove off while the employee was still hanging out of the passenger doors, dragging the associate 75 feet down the street, the employee let go, rolling several times and cutting his elbows and shoulder. (Source komonews.com)
Burlington Coat shoplifter pulls a gun in Orlando.
Two suspects were arrested yesterday outside the Burlington Coat store on Orange Blossom Trail in Orange County. When the store officer stopped them, the male suspect pulled up his shirt and displayed a handgun. Surveillance video shows the Loss Prevention officer backing off with his hands in the air. When the suspects were arrested a short time later, no weapon was found. (Source orlandosentinel.com)
Grab and run of a $6000 ring in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
The male suspect entered the Littman Jewelers in The Galleria of Johnstown over the weekend and snatched a $6000 ring from the sales associate. The suspect, Shane Neisner escaped on a motorcycle, but only to return later to attempt to sell the ring to another jewelry store inside the mall. Neisner was quickly arrested. (Source wjactv.com)
Home Depot Loss Prevention Associate assaulted in Salem, Massachusetts.
Kabineh Kaba, 42, was arrested yesterday on charges of shoplifting and assault and battery after he got into a physical confrontation with store security at the Home Depot. (Source salemnews.com)
Ulta Beauty employee and customer accused of theft in Williamsport.
John Botsford was only with the store for 2 weeks when he was accused of stealing both cash and merchandise from the store. Court papers indicate that Botsford is believed to have taken $193 from the business. Ulta also accused Ashley McCluskey of stealing over $250 worth of merchandise on two separate occasions. (Source sungazette.com)
Muncy Police Dept. Suspects 8 Involved in Retail Theft Ring
The thieves are accused of stealing more than $11,500 of merchandise from three stores during the three-month crime spree. The investigation began back in November when the loss prevention team at Sam’s Club notified police of missing DVDs and Blu-ray discos during an inventory check. Security footage showed two women going to the movie section, grabbing four discs, and walking away, hiding the discs before they reached the front of the store. Two of the other suspects were stopped by state police in January for stealing from a Best Buy. (Source sungazette.com)
Two arrested in Lexington’s Fayette Mall for theft ring; possible 10 additional suspects.
Over the past 3 months Jaleen Watson and Tyler Gadberry have been shoplifting thousands of dollars in merchandise from an unnamed store in the Fayette Mall. Upon being interviewed by Police, the duo admitted that up to 10 other people were involved in the thefts of Apple equipment form the store. (Source wkyt.com)
High Speed chase from a Walmart in Redding, Cal. hits over 100mph.
Anderson Police identified a stolen car in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Redding. Four people exited the Walmart and jumped into the car leading police a high speed chase, at least one gun shot was fired at the pursuing officer. As the suspects drove, stolen merchandise was being discarded out the window of the fleeing vehicle. Police were able to stop the vehicle and arrested all four suspects. (Source redding.com)
About Alex Giauque
