Two Nordstrom employees have been arrested in connection with a theft at the department store that employed them.
The Police Department of Minnetonka, Minn. said Wednesday that they had recovered $400,000 in stolen goods from a Nordstrom store and arrested Denis Palamarchuk and Tatyana Alysheva on May 4 in connection with the theft.
Via a search warrant, police said they found high-end handbags, shoes and clothes as well as more than $46,000 in cash at a home in Plymouth Minn. Police believe that the merchandise was stolen from the Nordstrom at Ridgedale Center, where both suspects worked. Both Palamarchuk and Alysheva had 215 listings on their eBay account at the time they were arrested.
FN had reached out to Nordstrom for comment.
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According to a report from Fox 9, Nordstrom employees discovered the theft when they reviewed surveillance video footage that showed Palamarchuk tampering with security cameras and shielding high end clothing from view. Nordstrom employees placed an additional hidden camera in an office to film Palamarchuk stealing items.
The news marks the latest report of a large-scale retail theft in recent weeks. Earlier this month, more than $700,000 in stolen merchandise was recovered and a San Francisco Bay-area man was arrested in connection with a smash-and-grab retail theft ring, California Highway Patrol (CHP) said.
According to the CHP’s Golden Gate Division, authorities served search warrants at a home in Pittsburg, Calif. and at a nearby storage facility. During the search, investigators discovered stolen merchandise from multiple retailers, including Macy’s, Lululemon, Target, CVS, and more valuing “at least $715,000.” This arrest came just months after Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom introduced a new plan to fight and prevent crime in the state as it faces a spike in organized smash-and-grab thefts.
In a letter to Congressional leadership in December, the CEOs of 20 leading retailers across the U.S. expressed urgent concern over the growing impact of organized retail crime. The signatories, which included the heads of Nordstrom, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker, implored lawmakers to pass the “INFORM Consumers Act,” legislation that will modernize consumer protection laws to safeguard families and communities from the sale of illicit products.
