- Federal prosecutors in Oregon have filed charges against seven defendants for conspiring to defraud Home Depot.
- The complaint says the group rented equipment from the retailer using stolen credit card numbers.
- Instead of returning the items, prosecutors say the crew sold them on Facebook and other marketplaces.
Home Depot’s rental service continues to battle the theft of its heavy equipment in schemes in which suspects sell the machines on sites like Facebook Marketplace, prosecutors say.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Oregon filed charges against a group of seven defendants, accusing them of conspiring in a scheme in which they stole heavy machinery from Home Depot by renting it and then not not returning.
According to the indictment, first reported by Court Watch, members of the group would go to the retailer’s rental office in Oregon, Washington and Colorado to borrow the equipment using credit card information. credit and debit stolen.
Prosecutors also said defendants would often “use their real driver’s licenses” for required identification.
But rather than return the equipment, the defendants sold it on Facebook Marketplace and other online platforms, according to court documents.
In each case, the equipment was borrowed for a day’s rental, the GPS tracking devices were disabled and the items were listed for sale on Facebook and elsewhere, prosecutors said.
The thefts bear a striking resemblance to several cases that occurred last year, one in Washington and two in Florida.
In one, Florida prosecutors sentenced a man to eight years in prison for running a criminal ring that rented more than 60 pieces of heavy equipment, such as trenchers, stump grinders and excavators, which were never returned, costing Home Depot more than $1 million. .
Officials said he, too, used his real ID when borrowing equipment, the local Fox affiliate reported.
And last month, Florida’s attorney general filed charges against another man in a strikingly similar scheme involving 21 pieces of equipment and costing Home Depot more than $460,000.
Beyond the rental office, Home Depot and other retailers have sounded the alarm in recent years about thefts, which cost the industry an estimated $41 billion in 2022.
In response to shoplifting, the home improvement retailer, in particular, has turned to measures such as locked screens and power tools that will only work if they have been activated during purchase.
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