Pair who led retail theft conspiracy to be arraigned for $5.6 million in theft from four retailers

Seattle - Two men who allegedly led a sophisticated scheme to steal and resell products from four online retailers will be arraigned tomorrow on a three-count indictment that outlined the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Brian Vinh Pham of 29, of Arlington, Texas, and Romar Aragon Noto, 22, of North Hills, California, will be arraigned on the indictment tomorrow at 11:00 AM in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

According to the indictment, between April 2023, and February 2026, Pham and Noto led a sophisticated retail theft ring that transported stolen property across the country, including into the Western District of Washington. The men stole the merchandise by exploiting return policies and obtaining fraudulent refunds. For one retailer, they also exploited a glitch on the retailer's website to obtain more than 55,000 pieces of merchandise without payment. They then sold the stolen goods directly to consumers, to other third-party resellers, and to wholesalers.

The indictment details how Pham and Noto's group targeted four retailers to obtain more than $3.2 million worth of goods by obtaining fraudulent refunds. After ordering the merchandise, they would initiate returns with retailers who paid refunds when the return shipping labels were scanned. The theft ring used a variety of tactics to show the return packages were shipped but never actually returned the stolen goods.

During a five-month period, a retailer of home improvement goods, Retailer 2, paid $124,000 in refunds to Pham and Noto's group for over 200 expander tools, only to have the return labels affixed to empty envelopes or boxes. Pham and Noto sold expander tools via Amazon Marketplace for $96,000.

Similarly, during a 10-month period, the co-conspirators ordered and obtained more than $162,000 in refunds for more than 350 tankless water heaters that they failed to return. About 297 of the water heaters were sold on Amazon Marketplace for more than $181,000. In total, that victim was defrauded of more than 2,800 items valued at more than $1.4 million.

Retailer 3, a clothing retailer, was defrauded of 15,000 pieces of clothing worth over $1 million. The clothes were sold in bulk to other third-party resellers. Retailer 4 was defrauded of clothing worth $767,000 in some 900 orders where a refund was claimed but the goods were not returned. Retailer 1, a manufacturer of insulated stainless-steel tumblers, issued refunds totaling more than $53,000 for over 1,000 tumblers that were never returned.

Pham and Noto's group also targeted Retailer 1 when its website had a glitch that canceled bulk orders but then still fulfilled and shipped some canceled orders without payment. The pair's group used the messaging platform Discord to coordinate placing more than 7,000 orders, seeking to obtain more than 150,000 tumblers valued at about $6.5 million. The group successfully stole more than 55,000 tumblers worth approximately $2.4 million through 2,700 orders. Pham and Noto used warehouses in Texas and California to store the enormous inventory before selling the tumblers on Amazon Marketplace, to third-party resellers, and to wholesalers.

The co-conspirators set up various business entities and bank accounts to execute their scheme. Both men are charged with money laundering for transferring their ill-gotten proceeds from one of their business accounts to another account.

Conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property is punishable by up to five years in prison. Money laundering is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI.