More than a dozen people have been arrested in a Tampa-based organized retail theft ring responsible for at least $5 million in home improvement products and construction materials over the last year, authorities said.<\/p>\n
The ring, which included several family members, set up \u201calmost like a hardware store\u201d at a Lutz home to resell items stolen from major retailers, including appliances, tools and fixtures, among other items, Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe paint section was here, the electrical section was over there,\u201d Chronister said at a news conference. \u201cWhatever they had, they had broken up in the different sections to make it convenient for their customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Items were stolen from stores in Florida and several other states including Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana, Chronister said.<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s office investigation began in November with a tip about a fencing operation selling stolen items at reduced prices. Fencing entails knowingly buying stolen goods and reselling them for profit.<\/p>\n
An undercover detective, acting as a seller of a stolen item provided by Home Depot, agreed to steal items for the ring to purchase and resell at a prenegotiated rate, Chronister said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA relationship blossomed with our undercover operative to the point where they would (specify) items that they wanted to purchase,\u201d Chronister said. \u201cIf they had demand for electrical panels, \u2018Hey, we need electrical panels.\u2019 At one point, it was a generator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators learned that the group used several methods to steal merchandise from retailers including Home Depot and Lowe\u2019s. In some cases, they used false invoices to obtain items at lower prices, according to the sheriff\u2019s office. Sometimes they returned stolen items for refunds, then stole the same products again.<\/p>\n
The group also stole supplies from construction sites, sometimes cutting locks on storage containers, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n
The ring resold the goods from the Lutz home and online. Detectives identified more than 1,800 online sales transactions linked to the operation over the past year and estimated that $7 million in proceeds moved through the enterprise during that period.<\/p>\n
A video released by the sheriff\u2019s office showed investigators using a forklift to seize pallets full of merchandise from a home on Linwood Terrace in Lutz, which investigators called the hub of the operation. More items were discovered in a packed storage unit, the video shows.<\/p>\n
Investigators also seized $220,000 in cash and seven vehicles.<\/p>\n
Hoover Rengifo, the 55-year-old man investigators say was at the center of the ring, was arrested May 4 on charges including racketeering, money laundering, dealing in stolen property and communications fraud. He was released from jail Saturday after posting a bond of $420,950, records show.<\/p>\n
According to an arrest affidavit, an undercover detective\u2019s interactions with Rengifo during purchases of goods at the Lutz home showed his \u201cdirect control over the operation\u201d and his \u201cdecision-making authority regarding the pricing, sale, access and distribution of merchandise.\u201d He worked with other co-defendants who were in \u201cdistinct roles involving theft, transportation, storage and resale of merchandise,\u201d the affidavit states.<\/p>\n
A private attorney listed in court records for Rengifo could not immediately be reached Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Rengifo\u2019s wife, Maribell, two of the couple\u2019s sons and a nephew were also part of the \u201cnucleus\u201d of the ring and face similar charges, Chronister said.<\/p>\n
Maribell Rengifo and their sons, Alejandro Rengifo, 23, and Sebastian Rengifo, 21, were also arrested May 4 and have been released on bond. Jail records show Hoover, Maribell and Sebastian Rengifo live at at the Linwood Terrace home.<\/p>\n
Maribell Rengifo\u2019s attorney, Bryant Camareno, said Wednesday that it was too early to comment on the strength of the government\u2019s evidence, but he said her family business was well known and respected in the community, particularly among Hispanic buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were not known as scammers, they were not known as a people who dealt in stolen property,\u201d Camareno said. \u201cThey were buying and selling property at a pretty regular pace, but I have no evidence to suggest that at least my client was engaged in any theft of property at all, whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sebastian Rengifo\u2019s attorney, Dayna M. Santana, said in an email that the family \u201coperated a lawful business in plain view and built a strong, loyal clientele.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing indicates they were aware, or had reason to believe, that any of the property was stolen,\u201d Santana said.<\/p>\n
An attorney for Alejandro Rengifo was not listed in court records.<\/p>\n
Chronister said the investigation was ongoing Wednesday. The sheriff\u2019s office is working with the Florida Attorney General\u2019s Office to investigate and prosecute the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a dozen people have been arrested in a Tampa-based organized retail theft ring responsible for at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[115948,13580,111201,11227,115950,115949,43430,115951,115952,41019,135,137,136,60505],"class_list":["post-270296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-alejandro-rengifo","tag-chad-chronister","tag-chronister","tag-construction-materials","tag-electrical-panels","tag-hoover-rengifo","tag-lutz","tag-sebastian-rengifo","tag-stolen-goods","tag-stolen-property","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-undercover-detective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}