A series of thefts in Wilmette over a year ago uncovered a nationwide fencing ring leading to the recovery of approximately $7.5 million in merchandise, police said.
On Oct. 11, the Wilmette Police Department announced the arrest of eight individuals following a yearlong investigation into what authorities described as a “sophisticated criminal enterprise.”
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Wilmette Police Commander Michael Robinson traced the roots of the investigation to a series of thefts in the village starting in September 2021 as the arresting officer sensed there were unusual circumstances
“He realized there was some significant amount of property that was above the typical small time retail theft and it was indicative of the merchandise being sold at other locations,” Robinson said.
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Officers quickly realized those involved in the ring were selling the merchandise and connections were made to similar retail thefts in Shorewood and Will County.
The defendants purchased the stolen property at the Chicago area stores and took them to a series of “fencing” locations where the products would be “cleaned” of identifying information, police said.
“At those fencing locations, they would send the stolen goods out to these warehouses or different storage locations where they would remove the label,” Robinson said.
After “cleaning” the products, the stolen items — primarily over-the-counter medications and health and beauty products — would be shipped to e-commerce merchants in California and third party distributors in New York and go back on the market.
Police further state the defendants created a series of bank and financial institution accounts with the goal of hiding the fund’s origins. That money was used to purchase a series of residential properties to continue the financing of the scheme.
“We didn’t expect it to be this big,” Robinson said.
Search warrants were executed Oct. 6 in Chicago, Oak Lawn, Cicero and Bolingbrook and three others in California where an approximate $7.5 million in evidence and stolen merchandise was recovered, police said.
Robinson said police are still going through evidence and he anticipates the filing of additional charges.
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Five of the eight individuals arrested were taken into custody at the Will County Courthouse and have a scheduled court date of Oct. 26, according to police.
Several different government organizations including a series of law enforcement personnel participated in the investigation along with security teams from retail outlets.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
