NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James announced charges against 41 people on Thursday for a large retail theft ring allegedly run by a Manhattan pawn shop owner who used his store to fence the stolen goods.
Between 2017 and 2020 Roni Rubinov paid members of the group to steal from big name stores like Bloomingdale's, Macy's, CVS, Sephora and more, according to prosecutors. He then would allegedly sell the high-end goods on eBay for less than a tenth of the original price.
Rubinov focused mostly on cosmetics, clothing, pharmaceuticals and gift cards, police said.
The thieves in his employ would make $1 or $2 per item, according to officials.
Over the course of his scheme, Rubinov’s team allegedly stole more than $3.8 million worth of goods, for which the high ranking members of the ring made about $1.37 million in profits.
“Seven days a week, the stolen merchandise was transported from the Midtown Manhattan location to Rubinov’s residence or a separate stash house, which were both located in Fresh Meadows, Queens,” said James at a press conference with Mayor Eric Adams announcing the charges.
His pawn shop on W 47th Street near 6th Avenue, New Liberty Loans, allegedly served as the headquarters for the operation. It’s where the street team would drop off stolen goods and one of the places he stored the items before they were sold on eBay, according to authorities.
In 2019 he opened a warehouse in Fresh Meadows, which police claim Rubinov planned to use as a “department store” for stolen goods.
Alleged members of the crew face a wide range of charges, from conspiracy to money laundering to criminal possession of stolen property.
“What we thought in some circles was that this was individualized crimes of opportunity, and no is wasn’t,” said Adams at the press conference. “It was organized crime. Sitting from his beautiful home in one part of the city was having other individuals carry out actions that was destroying our basic financial ecosystem.”
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