FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Fort Wayne police are investigating allegations that e-commerce employees stole phones and resold them for cash. The investigation into what’s been deemed “organized Amazon retail theft” began when ecoATM — a service in which you can sell your phone for cash and reduce electronic waste — reached out to FWPD about “a large amount of suspicious transactions involving Apple iPhone 15s.”
On Tuesday, FWPD arrested 19-year-old Amazon employee Omar Kelly and his 18-year-old brother, Amir Kelly, in connection to 10 iPhone 15s stolen from Amazon, with an estimated value of $7,456. Six of those phones were recovered – about $4,280 – and both men were charged with organized retail theft, a Level 6 felony.
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Police said there are active warrants for another Amazon employee and her boyfriend, who sold phones to ecoATM and allegedly used other people to sell phones. Those suspects – who were not named – are accused of selling 154 iPhones, an estimated value of $138,094. Investigators recovered 55 of the phones, valued at about $49,413.
“All of the suspects used ecoATMs as a vehicle to sell the stolen phones,” FWPD said.
Detectives were able to use LeadsOnline as a tool to connect all the suspects to the case.
The department credited Amazon Loss Prevention, LeadsOnline, and ecoATM as partners in uncovering the theft.
Poster Comment:
No pics of the perps, you know what that means.