Four men were charged in federal court for their alleged participation in a large-scale scheme to steal and re-sell items from Home Depot and Kohls stores across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced Monday.
Marvin Estuardo Morales De Paz, 33, Abraham Dayger-Enrique, 24, Sebastian Lajuj-Soloman, 30, and Jonathan Josue Amperez-Perez, 31, all from Guatemala, were arrested Friday for allegedly working together to re-sell stolen goods such as electrical wire, flooring, power tools, and “other items of high value,” Cunha said in a statement.
The four are allegedly part of a larger retail theft organization of 15 people, he said.
Based on information from multiple police departments, security footage from retail stores, and court-authorized seizure and review of three of the men’s cell phones, the four men were believed to have carried out more than 30 thefts, along with other co-conspirators, Cunha said.
Search warrants were executed on Friday at homes in Cranston and Providence, R.I., where authorities seized $11,000 worth of stolen items from Home Depot and Kohls, along with $83,000 in cash and a Ford 2019 F150, Cunha said.
Morales De Paz, Dayger-Enrique, and Lajuj-Soloman were arrested in Rhode Island on Friday and Amperez-Perez was arrested in Pennsylvania, according to Cunha. Each of them were charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen goods.
Authorities across the northeastern United States are investigating the scheme.
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