A San Diego woman or “ringleader,” her husband and her recruits were arrested in early December after investigators found them reportedly operating an organized retail crime scheme that spanned 21 counties and involved approximately $8 million worth of stolen beauty products.
The California Attorney General’s Office announced the 140 filed charges against “queen pin” Michelle Mack, her husband, Kenneth Mack, and the rest of her posse on Feb. 16 after an extensive investigation conducted by the California Department of Justice (DOJ), California Highway Patrol (CHP), Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Ulta’s Loss Prevention Organized Retail Crime team, and Sephora Representatives.
While the felony complaint only named seven women a part of the scheme, NBC San Diego reported that authorities stated Mack employed as many as 12 women for her crime ring.
Dubbed the “California Girls,” Mack, 53, allegedly sent her hooligans addresses to specific stores she wanted them to steal from, including Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Macy’s, Prada, Bath & Body Works, Bloomingdale’s, Victoria’s Secret, LensCrafters, and Luxottica’s Sunglass Hut.
But the stores weren’t just in California; they were also scattered nationwide, including in Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, and Ohio.
The recruits allegedly cached thousands of looted alluring goods for Mack, from cosmetics to sunglasses, and then shipped them to a Post office in her area for her to pick up and take to her home. The 53-year-old reportedly sold the items on her Amazon shop for only a fraction of the retail price.
Upon the arrest, investigators uncovered thousands of filched goods stacked on shelves in her garage worth nearly $400,000. Incriminating text messages revealed how the alleged crooks communicated, with one of them, Kimora Lee Gooding, texting the 53-year-old ringleader, “I’m not stealing regular. I’m going to start filling up my bag quick. So, I want to know stuff I can grab in bulks, too.”
Texts seemingly showed Mack’s husband seemingly included in the scheme.
“Even without Lancome, we still did well…meeting spot for Aleena (Alina Franco) at 11 AM…I’ll put the makeup for Aleena by the front door,” Mack texted Kenneth on Feb. 23, 2023.
Around March 20, 2023, Kenneth messaged Mack a picture of a bin full of paper and wrote, “Lots of orders. Let’s get shipping.”
The charges against the dozens of recruits, Kenneth and Mack, include conspiracy to commit organized retail theft, grand theft and receipt of stolen property. All of them pled not guilty.
“This is a multimillion-dollar criminal scheme. It was complex. It was orchestrated,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, according to CNBC. “We are not talking about garden-variety shoplifting.”
Dan Petrousek, Senior Vice President of Loss Prevention at Ulta Beauty, explained that organized retail crime poses a safety risk.
“Not only does organized retail crime jeopardize the safety of our store associates and guests, but it also results in potentially unsafe or damaged products being resold online to consumers under false pretenses. We will continue to work closely with authorities to decrease the occurrence of retail theft that not only affects our stores but retailers nationwide,” Petrousek said.
