两人被控主导560万美元零售盗窃转售团伙：利用退货漏洞从四家零售商骗走数千件商品
美国司法部华盛顿西区联邦检察官办公室11月12日宣布，两名男子被控主导一个涉案560万美元的零售盗窃与转售团伙，两人定于11月13日上午11时在 Seattle 的联邦法院出庭应讯。被告是29岁、住 Texas 州 Arlington 的 Brian Vinh Pham 与22岁、住加州 North Hills 的 Romar Aragon Noto，起诉书共三项罪名，案情由联邦调查局（FBI）调查。
起诉书称，2023年4月至2026年2月间，两人主导的团伙跨州转运赃物，手法是利用零售商的退货政策骗取退款：下单收货后发起退货，趁零售商在退货面单被扫描时即退款的流程，把空信封、空箱子寄回，货却从不退还。仅欺诈退款一项，四家零售商被骗走的商品价值超过320万美元。
起诉书列举的细节包括：一家家居建材零售商在五个月内为200多件膨胀工具付出12.4万美元退款，退回的全是贴了面单的空信封与空箱子，这批工具随后在 Amazon Marketplace 上以9.6万美元售出；另一家零售商在十个月内为350多台无水箱热水器付出逾16.2万美元退款，其中约297台在 Amazon Marketplace 售得逾18.1万美元，该商家合计被骗2,800多件商品、价值逾140万美元。一家服装零售商被骗走15,000件衣服、价值逾100万美元；另一家被骗走76.7万美元服装，涉及约900笔只退款不退货的订单。
一家保温杯制造商还遭遇网站故障：部分批量订单被取消却仍发货且未收款。起诉书称，团伙通过 Discord 平台协调下单7,000多笔，企图弄走约15万只保温杯、价值约650万美元，最终得手55,000多只、价值约240万美元，涉及2,700笔订单；这家厂商另有1,000多只保温杯被以退货手法骗走5.3万美元退款。团伙在 Texas 与加州设有仓库囤货，再经 Amazon Marketplace、第三方转售商与批发商销赃，并设立多家公司与银行账户转移赃款。
两人被控共谋跨州运输赃物与洗钱。司法部表示，共谋跨州运输赃物最高可判5年监禁，洗钱最高可判10年监禁。起诉书只是指控，两名被告在被法庭证明有罪之前均推定无罪。代理联邦检察官 Charles Neil Floyd 公布了上述案情。（来源：美国司法部）
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)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：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.
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