New York City Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on May 8th the indictment of 54-year-old Bibi Rehana Khan and 40-year-old Aaron Khan, as well as their perfume and cosmetics store “Rehana’s Cosmetics Inc” located at 870 6th Avenue in Manhattan. Bragg stated that the store held nearly a million dollars worth of stolen goods obtained through “zero-dollar purchases,” which he identified as the main cause of the prevalent shoplifting crimes.
During a press conference on the 8th, District Attorney Bragg explained the simple method of dismantling fencing networks, which is by tracking the flow of money. In this particular case brought by the prosecution, the defendants utilized individual shoppers to commit zero-dollar purchase crimes at pharmacies like Duane Reade, grocery stores, or convenience stores to profit illicitly from the stolen merchandise.
Bragg highlighted that both Rehana and Aaron were charged with possessing over a million dollars worth of stolen goods, which were also being sold in the store.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, Rehana was already raided the day before, while Aaron would appear for arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court in the afternoon around 3 pm on the same day. They are facing charges of first, second, and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
The prosecutors revealed that “Rehana’s Cosmetics” is situated in the heart of the commercial district in midtown Manhattan, across the street from the high-end fashion store Nordstrom Rack, surrounded by various pharmacies, cosmetic stores, and notably, Macy’s, which is a primary victim of retail theft in the area.
Upon a visit to the store, it was found that “Rehana’s Cosmetics” had been rebranded as a gift shop called “Wintex Cotton Inc” under new ownership.
An anonymous male operator of “Wintex Cotton” stated that Rehana, a female, closed the store three months prior and her current whereabouts were unknown. He was unsure about the relationship between Rehana and Aaron.
The Asian male wholesale merchant on the second floor of the gift shop, who declined to provide his name, mentioned that law enforcement requested him to cooperate in an investigation a few months ago.
The adjacent tobacco shop operator mentioned that while his shop had not experienced zero-dollar purchases, Nordstrom Rack across the street was known for retail theft incidents, necessitating police presence.
The active crackdown on fencing operations is one of the strategies employed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to combat retail theft.
In January 2024, a search conducted at “Rehana’s Cosmetics” and two warehouses at 1234 Broadway uncovered a significant amount of stolen items, including cosmetics, beauty products, non-prescription drugs, vitamins, electronic beauty devices, apparel, designer handbags, backpacks, toys, kitchenware, household appliances, LEGO sets, coffee makers, and vacuum cleaners, totaling 450 medium-sized cardboard boxes. Items worth $212,000 were linked to Macy’s, with the rest stemming from Duane Reade, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Ulta Beauty, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and the NHL Store.
Bragg emphasized that during the search of “Rehana’s Cosmetics,” it was discovered that the store was well-known in the zero-dollar purchase circle, where individuals involved in such crimes would bring stolen merchandise to the store for resale, leading the prosecution to charge the store with fostering zero-dollar purchase crimes.
Furthermore, Bragg disclosed that it was not just “Rehana’s Cosmetics” but also other stores that served as destinations for zero-dollar purchase offenders to sell stolen goods, as documented in the organized zero-dollar purchase crime list under investigation by the authorities.
Bragg attributed the success in dismantling the fencing operation to the collaboration with retail establishments like Macy’s, Ulta Beauty, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Rite Aid, utilizing surveillance cameras, undercover officers, and applying digital tracing to identify the source of stolen goods.
“Rehana’s Cosmetics” claimed to be a perfume and cosmetics store; however, upon inspection by authorities, it was found to house hundreds of boxes of stolen goods with a wide variety of items not typically associated with a beauty store.
“This inventory is not what you would expect to find in a typical cosmetics store,” remarked Bragg.
The recent indictment represents the Manhattan District Attorney’s proactive efforts to combat fencing operations successfully.
In 2022, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office established the Manhattan Small Business Alliance to collaborate with small business leaders in each neighborhood to address repeat retail theft offenders, investigate organized retail theft and fencing operations, enhance coordination with local businesses and the NYPD to reduce in-store thefts and commercial robberies.