New York City, NY: Ringleader of Saks Fifth Avenue $430,000 theft ring pleads guilty
The head of a Saks Fifth Avenue employee ring that used stolen identities to purchase $430,000 worth of shoes and bags pleaded guilty Wednesday. Tamara Williams, 38, of Queens, is expected to get four to eight years in prison in exchange to her plea in Manhattan Supreme Court to grand larceny, identity theft and scheme to defraud. Williams and her crew made 91 purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store using pilfered information from about 50 customers between April and August 2014, prosecutors said. This defendant was the leader of an identity theft ring that stole more than 200 shoes and 80 bags and accessories from Saks Fifth Avenue in the span of approximately four months," Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. They bought labels including Christian Louboutin, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and resold them on the black market, according to prosecutors. Four accomplices previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms. nydailynews.com

Biddeford, ME: Two arrested in $100,000 counterfeit check scheme; hitting retailers for Gift Cards
Maine State Police have arrested two people in Biddeford in connection with a counterfeit check writing scheme that likely has defrauded several retail stores in New England of upwards of $100,000. Police say the fraudulent personal checks were being printed from a computer program and then cashed at a number of large retailers for gift cards and merchandise, which was later returned to the stores in exchange for cash. On Monday police arrested 36-year-old Kissie Whatley, 46-year-old and Randell Bankston both from Atlanta, Georgia. Troopers also plan to charge a third person, once they have been located, police report. wcsh6.com

Boise, ID: Three years in prison and nearly $100,000 in restitution
for Credit Card fraudster
Yinet Quintana Isalgue, 28, of Homestead, FL, was sentenced today in U S District Court to 33 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney announced. Judge Edward Lodge also ordered Quintana Isalgue to pay $97,496 in restitution. Quintana Isalgue pleaded guilty to the charges on July 21, 2015. According to the plea agreement, Quintana Isalgue traveled from Florida to Idaho, to commit credit card fraud. On January 9, 2015, law enforcement officers in Boise and Meridian, Idaho, received multiple reports from loss prevention at different retail stores identifying Quintana Isalgue through witness and surveillance evidence as attempting credit card fraud. Based upon video surveillance, loyalty card records, GPS, and credit card records, law enforcement officers discovered that Quintana Isalgue made similar fraudulent purchases in Oregon and Washington. She admitted $97,496.11 in actual fraudulent purchases, and an additional $19,288.24 in attempted purchases, for a total of $116,784.35. clearwatertribune.com

Salt Lake City, UT: Big-Dollar Baby Formula Thefts Dog Stores,
Police Across US
The recent arrests in Utah of three people accused of stealing thousands of dollars' worth of baby formula is the latest example of a problem that officials say is vexing stores and police nationwide as thieves systematically swipe the mixture from shelves and resell it to unsuspecting parents. In late December, police in Logan, about 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, confiscated 422 cans of stolen formula worth $8,000 to $10,000. It came from stores in Logan and three other northern Utah cities, and officers are looking for ties to similar recent thefts in Idaho cities about 150 miles away. abcnews.go.com

Sylvester, GA: Two arrested stealing nearly $1,000
in X-Box games from Walmart
Sylvester Police arrested two men on Wednesday for shoplifting at the Walmart in Sylvester. One of the men was a juvenile and the other was 18-year-old Donte Derwin Roberson. According to police both men were seen by Walmart Asset Protection officer lingering in the electronic department. Police said the men took a box of disposable diapers and emptied the diapers out of the box and began to fill the box with approximately 18 X-Box games totaling $960.95. In addition to that, Roberson had stolen in his backpack put in his back pack two hard drives and a cd wallet, valued at $134.75. Police said the juvenile also had in his possession a Craftsman magnet tool that is used to deactivate the security feature on X-Box games. wfxl.com


Shelby Co., TN: Shelby County Sheriff's Department just released images of three women who are suspected of shoplifting at a store in the Wolfchase Galleria
Police say the women stole over $1,000 worth of clothing from the Jazzy Star store at the mall. fox13memphis.com


San Marcos, TX: Police seeking ID of Walmart thief who has hit multiple times