"The new kings of crime" from Eastern Europe hitting retailers in Chicago - their #1 crime  Chicago's new kings of crime are more likely to hail from Eastern Europe, South America, Mexico or the Middle East- unlike their predecessors in the traditional Italian mob. Authorities say there are two primary schemes. The first is retail theft, but not large expensive items. The new mobs steal necessities such as bottled water- enough to fill a warehouse that was recently busted. "Baby formula is always a hot product, razors, anything that everybody needs that is expensive...we have cases where they are bringing in tons and tons, literally tons of property and then shipping it in containers," said David Williams, Cook County Organized Crime Task Force. The loss of sales tax hurts everyone. "In Illinois last year, approximately $77 million could have gone to firemen, policemen, hospitals, teacher," said David Williams, Cook County Organized Crime Task Force. (Source abclocalgo.com)


Ten indicted in $7 Million eBay fraud scheme.  On Wednesday, December 12, US State Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Kenyen Brown announced the indictments of 10 defendants in an elaborate eBay fraud case. The indictments allege that the defendants were involved in operating a racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization, known as Spellen Enterprise. The RICO count said that Spellen Enterprise fraudulently purchased loads of electronics, such as Playstation3s, iPods, and iPads, from retail stores using counterfeited credit cards and driver’s licenses. The case came from an investigation by the US Secret Service who were assisted by the USPS, the Georgia Bureau of investigation, and the EBay pro-act team. (Source al.com) (Source wkrg.com)

An Employee at a New York Community College steals $50,000, by inventory and refund fraud.  Nancy Lear a former employee at the Jefferson Community College book store in Watertown, New York was able to make false inventory entries and produce refunds for nonexistent books. The thefts occurred between April and November; the theft was discovered by another employee during the November inventory. (Source newzjunky.com)

Indianapolis area woman wanted for felony theft at Target.  Greenwood, Indian Police are hoping to find a young lady who may be responsible for the theft of over $5000 of DVDs and CDs from the Greenwood Target. The suspect is alleged to have take the merchandise to the fitting room, take the disks out of the packages and then conceal the merchandise. The suspect may have been involved with the same type theft in Avon. (Source theindychannel.com)