New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed the convictions and sentencings of 35 members of a substantial retail theft ring in New York City that operated between 2017 and 2022 on Thursday.
Through an investigation by the office of the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force and the New York City Police Department’s grand larceny division, more than $3.8 million in stolen goods were recovered from the ring’s ringleader Roni Rubinov, as well as 550-plus stolen gift cards and cash cards, and more than $300,000 in cash.
The companies that were stolen from included CVS, Walgreens, Duane Reade, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Louis Vuitton, Lowe’s, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Sephora, Rite Aid, Neiman Marcus, Saks 5th Avenue and Sunglass Hut, according to a spokesperson for James’s office.
Rubinov has been convicted of enterprise corruption and has been sentenced to two and a half years to seven and a half years in state prison. He has forfeited approximately $2.1 million and has been ordered to pay additional restitution of more than $3.1 million. The criminal enterprise that he oversaw involved 35 others — all of whom have been convicted.
The multiyear investigation led by OCTF and NYPD found that Rubinov and his accomplices, Yuriy Khodzhandiyev and Rafik Israilov, had thieves steal merchandise and gift cards from New York City retailers. The thieves then brought the stolen goods to Rubinov’s New Liberty Loans Pawn Shop at 67 West 47th Street, and also to the nearby Romanov Gold Buyers Inc. at 71 West 47th Street. Rubinov’s employees, Akasya Yasaroglu, Lyudmila Yushuvayev, Zamira Shaganova, Erica Zambrano and Ramdass Ramkissoon, bought the stolen goods at significant discounts and resold the stolen items for profits via an eBay store called Treasure-Deals-USA.
Once the stolen property was purchased by Rubinov or his employees, the goods were stored at one of the Midtown locations. The stolen merchandise was regularly transported by Fathi Negadi to Rubinov’s residence and Rubinov’s stash house, which were both located in Fresh Meadows, Queens. Other members of the criminal operation would inventory and organize the stolen property at the stash locations in Queens before posting the items for sale on Romanov’s eBay store. Once the posted items were purchased, they were transported back to 71 West 47th Street to be packaged and shipped.
The types of items and brand names were not immediately known on Thursday. The thieves ranged in age from 23 to 67. With the exception of two New Jersey residents, all of the convicted are New York residents.
Organized retail theft is a concern with many stores — big and small. Last year stores lost an estimated $45 billion in retail theft, and that figure is projected to reach more than $53 billion in 2027, according to the CapitalOne Shopping Research. In 2023, there were more than 1.15 million reported cases of shoplifting nationwide.
Through their investigation, the OCTF and NYPD also determined that Rubinov “procured New York City Electronic Benefits Transfer cards and benefits from boosters [thieves] in exchange for cash.” After directing Khodzhandiyev, Yasaroglu and Shaganova to verify whether the boosters’ personal EBT cards or accounts had active balances, Rubinov would direct them to purchase the EBT cards from the boosters in exchange for cash. Rubinov then used these EBT cards to purchase groceries for his family, according to the officials.
The investigation also found that Rubinov reinvested nearly 60 percent of the gross proceeds from the eBay transactions back into his enterprise. He and his employees reinvested funds for such practices as cash withdrawals, which paid boosters for stolen property, as well as payments made to Rubinov’s employees, and marketing campaigns. These types of payments and expenses allowed Rubinov to continue to purchase and resell stolen property, “which perpetuated the flow of illicit proceeds into Rubinov’s PayPal and bank accounts,” according to the authorities.
