Bellevue man sentenced to 18 months in prison for operating multi-million dollar fencing operation that encouraged retail theft

Seattle - A 59-year-old Bellevue, Washington and Las Vegas, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 months in prison for his role in a scheme to sell stolen goods on Amazon and eBay, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Andrey A. Balun pleaded guilty in December 2025, to conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce. Balun and his co-defendant, Vitaliy F. Bobak, 53, of Federal Way, Washington, jointly owned MBA Trading LLC which did business at a Burien, Washington storefront operating as "We Buy Gold, Silver, and Electronics." An extensive law enforcement investigation revealed that the storefront knowingly purchased goods that had been stolen from area retailers. The pair then sold the goods on Amazon or eBay for millions of dollars in profit.

At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin told Balun the prison sentence would have been longer but for his health conditions and concern they could not be managed by the Bureau of Prisons. "You were the driving force behind this operation, and you continued for years even after you were told what you were doing was illegal," Judge Lin said.

"Acting as a 'fence' for stolen goods helps organized retail theft flourish, and that harms our community in multiple ways," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. "First retailers say theft brings violence against their employees; second, stores close because of theft problems and workers lose their jobs; third businesses raise prices to cope with the theft losses and that hits all of us in the wallet; and lastly, no taxes are paid on goods stolen from stores - Washington estimates it lost $600 million due to organized retail theft in 2021 alone."

According to records filed in the case, Balun co-owned the business since 2018. Balun trained Bobak on how to operate the business. Balun admits that the business purchased stolen goods from individual sellers knowing that the goods were stolen. The business bought primarily over the counter medications and health and beauty products. In many instances the goods still had anti-theft devices attached, or stickers saying "for sale only" at a particular retailer.

The men bought the goods far below the retail price and then posted them for sale on two websites they operated on Amazon and eBay. The Amazon store was called "Medikus" and the eBay store was called "abcstore555." Money from the online stores was traced to the men's bank accounts. The funds were then used by the men to operate the scheme by paying cash to the "boosters" (people who stole the goods) and payroll to employees who were involved in posting and shipping the goods for sale. The remainder of the proceeds were funneled to the men who then withdrew money to pay themselves and for various personal expenses. Balun obtained proceeds of at least $1 million in the final years of the scheme alone. Investigators traced some of that money to his purchase of a home in Las Vegas.

The amount of stolen property in this case is staggering. At the time the warrant was executed in December 2023, Balun and Bobak possessed more than 74,000 items of stolen property waiting to be sold or shipped - worth approximately $2.4 million. That is in addition to the $4.5 million in sales between 2021 and the middle 2023, and an unknown sum pre-2021. Most of these items were over the counter medication and health and beauty products, stolen from retailers such as Fred Meyer and CVS. By any conservative estimate, Balun and his partners purchased and resold hundreds of thousands of stolen items.

In asking for a 4-year prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court. "Balun's conduct was also audacious. As early as 2019, law enforcement advised him that stolen merchandise was passing through his online store. Yet rather than cleaning up his act, Balun trained Bobak to join him in the scheme. A couple years later, he directed Bobak on how to respond to a retailer complaint that the Amazon store was not authorized to sell their products. In short, he acted with impunity for years."

In his plea agreement Balun agreed to forfeit $1,000,000 to the government as part of the resolution of his case.

Bobak was sentenced earlier this year to 11 months in prison.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with significant assistance from the Renton Police Department, Seattle Police Department, and the IRS, and aided by investigators from numerous retailers.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean H. Waite and Asset Forfeiture Assistant United States Attorney Krista Bush.