Knox County Sheriff's Department Gets Tough on
Organized Retail Crime

"Professional shoplifters are not welcome in Knox County"

The Daily had the pleasure of speaking to Chief Lee Tramel, Assistant Chief Deputy with the Knox County Sheriff's Department. Tramel, along with Captain Robbie Lawson (Leader of the ORC Task Force), has developed a solid partnership with retailers such as Lowe's, Home Depot, Kohl's, Food City, Kroger and others in sending a strong message to professional shoplifters that they are not welcome in Knox County.

The Special Unit was formed in 2011 by Sheriff J.J. Jones after a series of car smash and grabs at local retailers during the holiday season. Officers from every division were tasked with both uniform and under-cover patrols to deter shoplifting, car burglaries and car thefts; by the end of the season, 37 people had been arrested. Building on that success, the Organized Retail Crime Task Force arrested 309 people, recovering over $50,000 in stolen property from November to January 2016.

In 2017, at the same time the Felony threshold was increased to $1,000, new Organized Retail Crime legislation took effect July 1 in Tennessee, driven by the sponsorship of State Representative Jason Zahary (R) with the help of The Home Depot. Rep. Zahary stated that Knoxville was the #1 city in the nation for gift card theft and abuse.

Tramel said not only have tactics changed, so have motives. "The vast majority of people that are shoplifting are opiate addicts," he said. "They'll steal, go do a [merchandise] return, get a gift card, sell it for cash and then get some heroin or a pill."

The sheriff's office has linked 418 drug addicts to more than 5,100 transactions of stolen goods between 2014 and 2017. Tramel said that data suggests many addicted shoplifters are repeat offenders.

In May, members of the ORC Unit meet with retailers at the Turkey Creek Mall, the guest speaker was Brooke Walker (pictured to the right), a recovering drug addict and local professional thief. Walker, now working with KCSO, gave the retailers insight on exactly how she and others would study, plan and execute thefts from local businesses.

In recent months the Organized Retail Task Force has conducted a flurry of operations focused on fencing stolen property. From baby formula to auto parts, seizures have been made around the county.

"With the help of Kroger ORC Team, KCSO conducted a raid on a Restaurant selling stolen meat," Chief Tramel said. "The boosters didn't care about refrigeration or proper handling and the restaurant was just focused on profits."

Chief Tramel said he understands that deterrence is key, and education, treatment and jail are the tools his department has to work with. He said the investigations will continue.
 
"If you sell stolen property, you are going to jail," Chief Tramel said. "We will continue aggressive enforcement because this affects the entire community, including the prices you pay, plus perpetuating drug use."
 

Calif. Fires Death toll rises - 31 dead , more looting arrests in fire
There have been 14 deaths in Sonoma County linked to the Tubbs fire, raising the overall North Coast death toll to 24. Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano Thursday morning said investigators haven't been able to identify everyone as some of the remains were just "ash and bones."

The number of missing now is at 463. That figured included some duplicate reports and attempts are underway to weed those out as well as to locate people. The Sheriff's Office has gotten 900 reports of missing people. About half have turned up or been located.

Currently, 436 National Guard troops are in Sonoma County, with more reported to be en route. Sheriff's deputies arrested two more people Wednesday night on suspicion of looting, bringing the countywide to at least 7. petaluma360.com

California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection Updates Statewide Fire Summary

Two Months of Chaos, Destruction & Tragedy in America
Risk Reduction - Emergency Response Plans - Business Continuity
It's the hot topic all over the media right now!
Two months of these horrific events has companies and the media focused on all of the above mentioned topics. With executives and solution providers publishing more articles on these subjects right now then we've ever witnessed before. And while most of it is common sense and well defined we felt the need to publish a few out of our obligation to share with you what the hot topics are in the media right now. With the article below written for the CFO's of America which looks at the impact and role companies play in the over all risk reduction efforts from a community and infrastructure standpoint. Gus Downing

What Wildfires, Hurricanes Can Teach About Risk Reduction
Articles The CFOs are Reading
Companies can leverage their involvement in infrastructure development to raise resiliency standards.

The rate of natural disasters worldwide has more than quadrupled since 1970 to around 400 per year, at a pace and price that scientists predict will continue to mount. The World Bank estimates that each year, natural disasters cost about $327 billion in asset losses and an even more dramatic $520 billion in lost consumption.

CDC and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction notes the greatest number of natural disasters globally between 1995 and 2015 occurred in the United States, China, and India - the three most populous countries in the world (representing more than 40% of the world's population) and three of the largest economies globally (representing more than 40% of the global economy).

The time is therefore ripe for businesses to consider going all-in to help tackle these disasters. Businesses ought to be engaging more substantively in advance planning and preparation initiatives. For starters, the private sector can leverage its involvement in infrastructure development through public-private partnerships and major investment projects to raise resiliency standards. Such as development of new Town Centers, strip centers, warehouses, corporate offices and stores.

Another powerful way that corporations can help strengthen community resiliency more is to promote relief efforts. Some corporations demonstrated leadership in their response efforts in the wake of recent disasters. During the hurricanes last month, for example, companies like Bass Pro Shops, Walgreens, and Home Depot offered supplies for immediate relief efforts. PetSmart is providing resources to support local animal rescues. cfo.com

When Disasters Strike: Planning and Preparing for Emergencies
When was the Last Time Your Practiced Yours?
Recent events worldwide - hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires - have everyone thinking about emergency response plans.

All businesses are required to have an emergency response plan. Employers with 10 or more employees must have a written plan; those with less than 10 may share their plan orally with their team. Regardless, it is important that all plans be updated frequently - and always reevaluated after such an event occurs.

The first step, and the most challenging one, is to complete a very detailed risk assessment of the facility. It includes any risks at all levels of the company. Based on their location, companies can determine which natural disasters are likely to impact their business and then prepare for those specific disasters. It also is essential for companies to inventory their dangerous processes.

Engage Employees in the Planning Process - Map It Out and Train, Train, Train! The more you practice, the more likely it is that employees will follow the plan should an emergency occur. Evacuation drills.

Another vital part of your company's emergency preparedness is having the proper equipment and signage for it. Keep it very visual! ehstoday.com

FEMA & U.S. Government Having Difficulty Delivering Goods
FBI in Puerto Rico investigating if corrupt local officials are 'withholding' or 'mishandling' crucial supplies
FBI agents in Puerto Rico have been receiving calls from "across the island" with residents complaining local officials are "withholding" or "mishandling" critical FEMA supplies -- with one island official even accused of stuffing his own car full of goods meant for the suffering populace.

"The complaints we're hearing is that mayors of local municipalities, or people associated with their offices, are giving their political supporters special treatment, goods they're not giving to other people who need them," FBI Special Agent Carlos Osorio told Fox News."

The U.S. attorney has made it clear if anyone is caught mishandling FEMA supplies, they will be prosecuted and could end up facing anywhere from five to 20 years in prison," Osorio said.

Some of the claims have come by phone and others have poured in over social media, but the allegations stretch across the island.

Osorio told of one allegation where a party official is accused of pulling his own car around the back of a government building and driving off after loading it full of FEMA supplies.

"We're going out and investigating these claims," Osorio said. "We don't know yet if they're accurate or not...but yes we have received many similar allegations from people in many different parts of the island."
Earlier Thursday, the Daily Caller reported the FBI was aware of misappropriation allegations in six of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities.

Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, a U.S. federal prosecutor on the island, told a local Puerto Rican radio station Monday she was investigating officials in the government -- including mayors -- regarding the misappropriation of supplies.

Editor's Note: Over the years we've heard a number of retailers who have experienced the same difficulty when entering the market. foxnews.com

Tesco Whistleblower Did Not Raise Concerns in Appraisal, Court Told
That's All the Defense Has? Good Luck
Amit Soni, who is described as a whistleblower by the prosecution in the case, was giving evidence for a sixth day at the trial of Christopher Bush, 51, who was managing director of Tesco UK, Carl Rogberg, 50, who was UK finance director, and John Scouler, 49, who was UK food commercial director.

The three deny any wrongdoing and have pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and false accounting relating to Tesco's revelation in September 2014 that its group profit forecast had been overstated by 250 million pounds, mainly due to booking commercial deals with suppliers too early.

Nicholas Purnell, the barrister representing Rogberg, showed the court documents including Soni's self assessment from June 2014 in which he emphasised how controls over Tesco's financial function had been increased, but made no reference to accounting irregularities he said he had become aware of the same month.

"You were becoming clearer in your mind that there had been a misstatement of income but you didn't raise it as the most important topic you had to consider," Purnell told the court.

Shortly after saying he had been "pleasantly surprised" to have been given a pay increase in July 2014, Soni briefly broke down in tears in court.

"Technically from an accounting perspective there was nothing wrong with what we were booking. The problem was what was happening in the business process," he said. nytimes.com

9.4% Rise in number of shoplifting offences, UK Police data show
Using data from data.police.co.uk, OnBuy.com investigated the total number of shoplifting offences that were recorded by 43 police forces/constabularies across England and Wales in the financial year of 2016-17 (April 2016 - March 2017).

The number of shoplifting offences, defined by the police as "theft from shops or stalls", was more than 360,000 for the year, up 9.4% from 329,000 recorded in 2014-15.

The research showed that the Metropolitan Police had the highest number of shoplifting offences at 47,580 - the equivalent of 130 incidents a day. The Met was closely followed by West Midlands Police, who had 19,741 incidences of shoplifting reported. In third place was Greater Manchester Police, with 18,002 shoplifting offenses.

OnBuy.com cites the results for the UK of the Global Theft Barometer in 2015, which produced an estimate of 800 million pounds ($1.1B U.S.) for retailers' losses to shoplifting. retailrisk.com

Converse Beats Workers' Certified Security Bag Check Class Action
Converse Inc. beat a class action bag-check suit Wednesday when a federal court ruled that employees alleging they were owed money for time spent going through mandatory security bag inspections failed to prove the checks' duration was long enough to merit litigation.

Employees led by Eric Chavez claimed they deserved payment for off-the-clock time they sacrificed to undergo inspections at Converse stores, but Wednesday's order granted summary judgment to the shoe company. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins found that a company study showed the exit process rarely took more than a minute to conduct, so the unclocked time was de minimis.

The ruling on Wednesday is the second time in as many months that California federal judges have ruled employees' wait time for bag checks is trivial, or de minimis. In a decision handed down in September, Nike employees saw their class action dismissed because they couldn't prove they spent more than a few seconds of off-the-clock time going through security checks. law360.com

AIG Fights Revival Of Office Depot FCA Coverage Battle
AIG Specialty Insurance Co. on Thursday told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court properly ruled Office Depot isn't entitled to coverage for its costs to defend and settle a whistleblower's accusations that it overbilled public entities, saying a California insurance statute forbids insurance for such claims.

In a brief filed with the appeals court, AIG said U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson made the right call in accepting its argument that Section 533 of the state's insurance code - which precludes coverage for a policyholder's willful acts - applies to all of the underlying California False Claims Act allegations against Office Depot, thereby relieving the insurer of any duty to defend or indemnify the office supply giant. law360.com

Transportation Security Technology Co. Overhaul Launches
"Law Enforcement Connect"
Overhaul on Oct. 10 launched the latest in a suite of risk management solutions geared to shippers of premium cargo, tool to provide cargo theft task forces from around the United States with instant access to data on an in-progress incident.

Overhaul says that Law Enforcement Connect, or LE Connect, can transfer critical shipment information directly from victimized drivers and/or shippers to law enforcement officials. Drivers can also receive alerts to confirm a theft is in progress or has occurred which notifies responding officers in real-time. americanshipper.com

Marty The Robot Checks Safety Conditions, Out-Of-Stocks At Giant Store
Marty the Robot is checking for any slip hazards and scanning shelves for prices that need to be adjusted or items that need to be restocked at a Giant Food Store on Union Deposit Road in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The robot is part of a pilot phase and, if successful, could expand to other Ahold USA banner stores, such as Stop & Shop, Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover.

The robot's main job is to scan for trip or slip hazards on the floor, from dropped water bottles to tissue paper near the bakeshop's doughnut case. theshelbyreport.com

Zappos is offering to pay funeral costs for the 58 victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting

How to Help the Napa Fire Victims: 7 Effective Ways to Donate

Retail sales spike 1.6% in September
Retail Sales Rise Most Since 2015 on Storm-Related Lift

McChord, WA: Loss Prevention Manager, Army and Air Force Exchange Service teaches Fire Safety at Joint Base Lewis-McChord


Quarterly Results

Domino's Q3 comp's up 8.4%, revenue up 13.6%
 

Is Your Company Involved in the 'National Cyber Security Awareness Month'?

American Society For Industrial Security is!
This month, ASIS offers free resources on Cybersecurity including book excerpts, recorded seminar sessions, Security Management articles, and more.

Free Cybersecurity Resources ​
(All resources are free - login/creation of free account required) asisonline.org

National Cyber Security Awareness Month - NCSAM
National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) - observed every October - was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure every American has the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online.

Since its inception under leadership from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance, NCSAM has grown exponentially, reaching consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, corporations, educational institutions and young people across the nation. 2017 marks the 14th year of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Week 1: Oct. 2-6, STOP. THINK. CONNECT.: Simple Steps to Online Safety

Week 2: Oct. 9-13, Cybersecurity in the Workplace Is Everyone's Business

Week 3: Oct. 16-20, Today's Predictions for Tomorrow's Internet

Week 4: Oct. 23-27, The Internet Wants You: Consider a Career in Cybersecurity

Week 5: Oct. 30-31, Protecting Critical Infrastructure From Cyber Threats

NCSAM Get Involved - Become a NCSAM Champion - Display a NCSAM poster in your workplace - See more ways to get your team involved

Fighting the $5B BEC Cyber Threat
Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) Workshops in 12 Cities
National ISACs, FBI, USSS and Symantec Collaborate to Fight Business Email Compromise
Since October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified victims from 131 countries and a global monetary exposure of over $5 billion as a result of BEC fraud.

Business leaders, please plan to join us for this important opportunity to learn about a very real & proliferating cybersecurity threat. With half-day workshops scheduled across the nation.

"The R-CISC community is working together to share information and intelligence on Business Email Compromise (BEC) threats, improving our collective knowledge and response. These workshops are a great resource for business and government employees to learn not only about these threats but the resources available to them," said Suzie Squier, Executive Director of the R-CISC. See full press release below. r-cisc.org

Ransomware Grabs Headlines but BEC May Be a Bigger Threat
Unlike most other cybercrime activity, BEC entirely depends upon social engineering. It involves a faked email from a co-worker or corporate executive that short-cuts internal processes and asks the finance department to make a payment. A ploy that appears to be fairly simple-minded turns out to be both surprisingly effective and lucrative.

Perpetrators typically begin their campaign with reconnaissance. This includes scouting the company's hierarchy, corporate executives, and employees. With social media providing the crown jewels of information. With introductions to the leadership team on the target's website, along with their profiles published on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and so on, perpetrators can hardly believe their luck. Gathering information has never been easier. BEC has literally become the land of milk and honey for cybercriminals.

Emails Bypass Most Security Tools

These BEC campaigns primarily target large organizations, and many of them have fallen victim including Facebook and Google, as reported by Fortune Magazine. Despite all the corporate policies and safeguarding the firms have put in place, the success rate of the fake messages is astonishing - a 1,300% increase since Jan 2015, representing damages surpassing those of ransomware, according to the FBI in a press release. Since these emails don't contain malware or suspicious links, they can often bypass security tools and permeate an organization.

Damages on the Rise

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that $5.3 billion was stolen due to BEC-related fraud between October 2013 and December 2016, as highlighted in Cisco's 2017 Midyear Cybersecurity Report (registration required). This corresponds to an average of $1.7 billion per year, the report notes. By way of comparison, ransomware exploits pocketed about $1 billion in 2016, according to the report.

"The ability of these criminal groups to compromise legitimate business email accounts is staggering - they are experts at deception."

Combating BEC fraud has little to do with technology. It all boils down to process improvements and policy enforcement, awareness, and education. For example, payments shouldn't be made outside the official approval process and without applying the "four-eye principle," a requirement that two individuals approve some action before it can be taken. Never rely on e-mail alone. An out-of-the-ordinary request for an out-of-country transfer should immediately sound alarm bells.

To effectively combat BEC, the FBI issued a one-pager that recommends organizations use corporate email accounts only, and avoid free web-based accounts; that companies carefully consider what's posted to their social media and corporate websites; that employees be suspicious of requests for secrecy or pressure to take action quickly; the separation of computer devices from Internet of Things (IoT) devices; and disabling of the Universal Plug and Play protocol (UPnP) on corporate routers. darkreading.com

Kaspersky Lab and the AV Security Hole
Kaspersky Extends Information Sharing With Interpol To Fight Cybercrime
It's unclear what happened in the reported theft of NSA data by Russian spies, but an attacker would need little help to steal if he or she had privileged access to an AV vendor's network, security experts say.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday cited knowledgeable sources as saying that Kaspersky Lab actively modified its anti-virus system so Russian agents could use it as a tool to search through and steal from computers running the vendor's software.

It is unclear if the mushrooming scandal around the company's technologies could now prompt US businesses and even consumers to start ditching the company's software, which has consistently ranked among the top AV products for several years.

Kaspersky Lab on Thursday announced an extension to its work with Interpol, with the signing of a threat-sharing agreement with the global law enforcement agency. The agreement strengthens an existing relationship between the two organizations and will result in Kaspersky sharing even more threat intelligence with law enforcement authorities worldwide in their fight against cybercrime, the company said.

Editor's Note: This is a detailed report on the entire story of what happened with Israeli agents hacking Kaspersky and finding the Russians using the software to search computers worldwide looking for the keywords "Top Secret" and "Classified" which eventually led them to an Internet-connected home computer of an NSA contractor that happened to be running Kaspersky's antivirus software. darkreading.com

Cross-Industry Fraud Increasing
Trend Drives Organizations to Share Data for Mutual Benefit

Manager Information Security for Smart & Final, Greater Los Angeles Area

National ISACs, FBI, USSS and Symantec Collaborate
to Fight Business Email Compromise

Roadshow Cities Announced

Washington, DC - A group of national ISACs, The U.S. Secret Service (USSS), The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Symantec announced today the organizations are joining forces to offer free workshops around the country on Business Email Compromise (BEC), a significant and growing threat for businesses and individuals throughout the United States. Although not as widely profiled as ransomware attacks in recent years, BEC represents a more significant financial threat to organizations than other recent types of attack. Since October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified victims from 131 countries and a global monetary exposure of over $5 billion as a result of BEC fraud.

BEC is a sophisticated scam using email and/or other electronic communication to impersonate a business executive, employee, or other person with authority to request payments or access to employee payroll and W2 information on behalf of their company or organization.

To help educate businesses and individuals on ways to combat BEC, the USSS, FBI and Symantec are joining forces with the following ISACs to offer free workshops around the country:

● Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC),
● National Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NH-ISAC),
● Research and Education Network (REN-ISAC), and
● Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC).

Business leaders are invited to join these workshops to learn about BEC, a very real & proliferating cybersecurity threat. Cybersecurity experts from the USSS, FBI and private sector will be sharing their experiences & expertise around BEC, how BEC can impact companies and how to protect against becoming the next victim.

Each half-day workshop will include discussion around topics including:

● Describing the Business Email Compromise (BEC) threat
● The current threat landscape
● Tactics, techniques & procedures used by the criminals
● Why situational awareness & information sharing are important
● Offer strategies to help protect your organization from BEC attacks

"The Business Email Compromise (BEC) has become an increasingly sophisticated scam targeting businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. The Secret Service is committed to working with our public and private partners to educate the business community while seeking new and innovative ways to combat this emerging cyber threat," said Robert Novy, Deputy Assistant Director for Cyber at The United States Secret Service.

"Investigating Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams is a top priority for the FBI. This year, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, began tracking these scams as a single crime type, illustrating the significance of the threat. It is crucial that all businesses and individuals who feel they have been the victim of BEC file a complaint with www.ic3.gov. Rapid notification allows the FBI to quickly deploy FBI resources to provide assistance and conduct law enforcement actions as appropriate," said Scott Smith, Assistant Director, Cyber Division at The Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"The R-CISC community is working together to share information and intelligence on Business Email Compromise (BEC) threats, improving our collective knowledge and response. These workshops are a great resource for business and government employees to learn not only about these threats but the resources available to them," said Suzie Squier, Executive Director of the R-CISC.

Workshops will be conducted in the following cities: Kansas City, MO; Nashville, TN; Boston, MA; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; Dallas, TX; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Kennedy Space Center, FL; New York, NY; Akron, OH.

Information and registration for each event can be found here: https://nhisac.org/events/nhisac-events/business-e-mail-compromise-workshop/

Read full press release here

Fake Apps Stealing Your Customers For Either Their ID #'s Or Counterfeit Sales
Such fake apps are designed by crafty developers to trick inattentive users. Google and Apple police their app stores but many impostors get through. In third-party app stores, unofficial platforms run by someone other than the two tech giants, the problem is even worse.

Other developers simply copy an existing app and hope users will fail to notice. The Economist found that half of the 50 top-selling apps in Google Play had fakes. These included ones with tweaked names ("MyGoogleTranslate" rather than "Google Translate") and a bogus Netflix app that uses a weird Halloween-themed font for the logo.

Fake apps are often stuffed with malicious code. Academics from a research group, SerVal, at the University of Luxembourg, estimate that around a fifth of all Android app-based malware is hidden in fake apps. The malware facilitates various money-making schemes. The most egregious are designed to steal the passwords that unlock users' bank accounts. But it is more common for scams to profit from ordinary advertising, particularly on Android devices, says Eliran Sapir of Apptopia, a tech firm. Adverts in the smartphone's web browser get quietly replaced by similar ones chosen by the fake-app developer.

Another money-spinner is to mine cryptocurrencies. Analysts at Trend Micro, a cybersecurity firm, in 2014 discovered that copies of Football Manager Handheld, a smartphone game, and TuneIn Radio, an audio app, contained malicious software that mined cryptocurrencies, the proceeds of which were probably funneled to the developers.

Developers can make much more money with fake apps than through legitimate means, reckons Mr Sapir. On dark-web forums, hackers and small-time digital advertisers offer developers around $1 per user per year to inject their apps with malicious code. economist.com

Data Group's Updated Ethical Standards Keep Up With the Times
The Data & Marketing Association (formerly the Direct Marketing Association) is the community that champions deeper consumer engagement and business value through the innovative and responsible use of data-driven marketing.

The result of a yearlong initiative that involved dozens of stakeholders, the Data & Marketing Association's updated data standards document includes updates meant to keep pace with fast-evolving technology.

This week, DMA announced an update to its self-regulatory rules in regard to data standards. The association worked with various industry stakeholders on its Data Standards 2.0 initiative, which it launched a year ago, resulting in revisions related to onboarding notices and data collection related to connected devices. Additionally, the standards have been updated to take into account recent trends in data and marketing technology.

Editor's Note: With lawsuits around email campaigns, mobile marketing, privacy issues, and data collection it's important for LP and AP to see the self-regulating standards the marketing group has developed, as one group develops standards for their online efforts there's a ripple effect on other groups in so far as defining boundaries and data collection and storage. associationsnow.com

Richemont Sues Over Chloé, Cartier Knockoffs on Ebay, Alibaba

New census data suggests e‑commerce sales jumped 15.7% in Q3

Folcroft, PA: Warrants served at pawn shops and warehouse in alleged stolen property probe
Multi-million dollar stolen property scheme fueling local drug epidemic
Folcroft, Pa., Investigators from the state attorney general's office executed search warrants Thursday looking for evidence in a wide-sweeping, multi-million dollar scheme involving local pawn shops. They hauled away everything from a Craftsman air compressor to bicycles and electric heaters. Some of the items were in Home Depot boxes.

Sources say investigators were looking for items shipped here from half a dozen pawn shops in three counties, including Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia. FOX 29 cameras caught a team of investigators at the Darby Pawn Shop in Collingdale as they poured over the contents of the shop.

Sources say investigators believe the alleged stolen items stored here are being offered for sale online. According to sources, investigators tracked items stolen from big box stores like Home Depot and Walmart.

They believe heroin addicts have been stealing many of those items, such as power tools and selling them to the pawn shops to support their drug use.

Sources say charges could include conspiracy, money laundering, receiving stolen property and corrupt organizations. No charges have been filed at this time. fox29.com

Richmond, VA: Dismissal of Organized Crime charges against store owners possible
Three Richmond area convenience store operators indicted on charges of engaging in organized crime could have the charges against them dismissed.

Commonwealth's Attorney David Smith said prosecution of the cases was deferred for a year when the men appeared in Madison Circuit Court on Oct. 5. If the men are not charged with further crimes and make restitution, the charges will be dismissed after that one year.

Binod Adhikari, 45, Shashi Adhikari, 51, and Laxman Khadka, 30, all of Lexington, were indicted by a Madison grand jury on the charges of engaging in organized crime charges in April, nearly two years after being arrested.

Binod Adhikari was indicted on four counts of engaging in organized crime and one count of receiving stolen property (more than $500). Shashi Adhikari and Khadka were each indicted on one count of engaging in organized crime and receiving stolen property (less than $500. A fourth man charged at the same time, Rangassam Rajarami, 37, has fled the country.

All four men were arrested Sept. 1, 2015, in a raid by the Kentucky State Police, Richmond Police, Madison County Sheriff's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

Later that month, in a Madison District Court preliminary hearing, KSP detective Keith Parke testified the investigation into the men began after internal investigators with the Kroger company told state police they believed SNAP cards were being used to purchase items from the supermarket chain for resale in the defendants' convenience stores.

State police also believed stolen cigarettes were being sold in the stores, Parke said.

During the investigation, a confidential informant sold cigarettes provided by Kroger to the four stores at prices that would have caused any buyer to suspect they were stolen, Parke said.

Smith said the informants used in the investigation, all former felons, have since been incarcerated in prison.

Their use in the investigation tainted it somewhat, Smith said. Furthermore, the state had evidence of only one instance for both Shashi Adhikari and Khadka, and each involved less than $500 worth of cigarettes. "I don't feel that's what the (organized crime) statute intended," Smith said.

All three men have stayed out of trouble since their release from the Madison County Detention Center in 2015, Smith said. While restitution for Shashi Adhikari and Khadka will be less than $500, restitution required to be paid by Binod Adhikari will be thousands of dollars, Smith said.

Smith said he believes making sure Kroger is paid for its merchandise is a good result. If the men fail to complete restitution, or commit another crime, the cases will be looked at again, Smith said. Deferring prosecution is not common. It has probably been done three times over the last year, Smith said. The men could have received five to 10 years in prison for each count of engaging in organize crime, if convicted. richmondregister.com

Buying ID's Online - 2 Crews Get Prison

Cuban Member of Credit/Gift Card Crew gets 60 months in Federal Prison
Jesus Aldana Gutierrez, 33, a Cuban citizen also ordered Gutierrez to pay $408,596.46 in restitution, joint and severally with his codefendants.

From at least January 2015 through July 2016, Gutierrez and others obtained lists of credit and debit card numbers belonging to other individuals online. Gutierrez and his coconspirators used the card information to create counterfeit bank cards using devices to encode the cards with the fraudulently obtained account information. The defendants went to various retail stores and purchased prepaid gift cards and shopping cards with the counterfeit cards. The defendants then took those purchased prepaid gift cards and shopping cards to other stores and purchased items, including other gift cards, to further launder the illegally obtained money. justice.gov

TX Stolen Credit Card Crew Get Prison
Garland, TX, Alan Okpechi, 30, gets 60 months in Federal Prison - Stealing ID's
of 2,000+
Beginning in April 2015 and continuing through July 13, 2016, Okpechi, who pled guilty, and his coconspirators purchased the identification of individuals, including names, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and credit card numbers, through websites. Okpechi used the stolen and unauthorized identification to create false identification documents, including false Texas temporary driver's licenses, bearing the photos of Okpechi and his codefendants. The stolen identification was also used to make fraudulent, unauthorized purchases with credit and/or debit card accounts.

Krisstopher Segura-Jatip and Morgen Nelson also pleaded guilty to their role in the conspiracy and were sentenced to 57 months and 24 months in federal prison, respectively. justice.gov




Update: Cranston, RI: Police release images of $4,000 Victoria's Secret shoplifters
Authorities said the suspects stole 81 items from the store on Sept. 20 around 8 p.m. While they previously shared surveillance footage of three suspects, the updated images show better views of each of their faces. turnto10.com



Palo Alto, CA: Nearly $12,000 of merchandise stolen from Stanford Shopping Center: Lululemon, Bloomingdales, Victoria's Secret and Burberry
Palo Alto police are looking for shoplifters who hit multiple high-end stores within the past week. On Saturday two people grabbed a stack of athletic shorts worth more than $1,000 and left the store. The next day, stole eight pairs of leggings valued at $944. In another case, a trio took four bags valued at $2,900 from the Bloomingdale's on Sunday. Victoria's Secret was hit on Wednesday, items valued at over $1,000. A man attempted to steal $6,200 worth of handbags from Burberry on Tuesday, but dropped the items fleeing from Security. paloaltoonline.com



Laurel County, KY: Woman tried to steal $1,000 in merchandise
from Walmart
Police arrested 40-year-old Sonya Frederick Thursday after she was detained by Walmart's loss prevention team. Deputies say the woman shoplifted items including tools, jewelry, clothing and other items. wymt.com



Deer Park, IL: Two men stole over 100 phones, tablets from AT&T store

South Strabane, PA: Two women charge for roles in $800 refund thefts

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