Two Men Charged With Leading $5.6 Million Retail Theft and Resale Ring Targeting Four Retailers
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced on November 12 that two men accused of leading a $5.6 million retail theft and resale ring will be arraigned at 11 a.m. on November 13 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. The defendants are Brian Vinh Pham, 29, of Arlington, Texas, and Romar Aragon Noto, 22, of North Hills, California. The three-count indictment was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd, and the case was investigated by the FBI.
According to the indictment, between April 2023 and February 2026 the pair led a ring that transported stolen property across the country, exploiting retailer return policies to obtain fraudulent refunds: after ordering and receiving merchandise, the group initiated returns and, because some retailers paid refunds when return labels were scanned, shipped back empty envelopes or boxes while keeping the goods. Fraudulent refunds alone accounted for more than $3.2 million in goods taken from four retailers.
The indictment details how one home-improvement retailer paid $124,000 in refunds over five months for more than 200 expander tools that were never returned, with return labels affixed to empty envelopes or boxes; the tools were sold on Amazon Marketplace for $96,000. Over ten months, the group obtained more than $162,000 in refunds for more than 350 tankless water heaters it failed to return; about 297 of the heaters were sold on Amazon Marketplace for more than $181,000, and that victim was defrauded of more than 2,800 items valued at more than $1.4 million in total. A clothing retailer was defrauded of 15,000 pieces of clothing worth over $1 million, and another of $767,000 in clothing across some 900 refund-without-return orders.
The group also exploited a glitch on an insulated-tumbler maker's website that canceled bulk orders but still fulfilled and shipped some of them without payment. Using Discord to coordinate more than 7,000 orders, the group sought some 150,000 tumblers valued at about $6.5 million and successfully stole more than 55,000 tumblers worth approximately $2.4 million through 2,700 orders; the same maker had earlier issued more than $53,000 in refunds for over 1,000 tumblers that were never returned. The ring stored inventory in warehouses in Texas and California and sold the goods on Amazon Marketplace, to third-party resellers and to wholesalers, using various business entities and bank accounts, and both men are charged with money laundering.
Conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property is punishable by up to five years in prison, and money laundering by up to ten years. The charges in the indictment are only allegations, and both men are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的联邦调查局（FBI）总部大楼。本案由 FBI 调查。图：GSM 固定图库。 / Photo: FBI headquarters in Washington. The FBI investigated this case. Image: GSM asset library.
