A mother-daughter duo cruised the aisles of a Normandy Park QFC, filling a shopping cart with up to $1,000 in Tide detergent, Centrum vitamins, and Oil of Olay lotion, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. Minutes later, a surveillance camera records the duo blithely wheeling their heaping cart past the checkout counter and through the store’s sliding doors—without paying a cent.
The products, King County prosecutors allege, were fenced with a married couple in exchange for drug money (the thieves were allegedly heroin addicts) and then resold to discount markets and dollar stores throughout King County.
More than just capturing a simple case of petty theft, the footage, taken in 2010, marks one of the first pieces of evidence in a 10-month, multi-agency investigation into two separate theft rings allegedly responsible for stealing more than $6.1 million worth of products. The top targets for this big haul? Small-time items that included teeth whitening strips, disposable razor blades, raw chicken, Dawn dish soap, Pampers sizes 1-2-5-6, Advil, Dove and Pantene shampoo, Tylenol, Fred Meyer hair color, purses, perfume, L’Oreal hair products, Prilosec, cleaning supplies, and more.
Two families now face several felony charges for allegedly directing a small army of drug-addicted thieves, otherwise known as “boosters,” to steal the items that were intended for resale.
On June 2, Sara Kong and her husband, Chanthou Rim, pleaded not guilty to seven counts each of first-degree attempted trafficking in stolen property, criminal solicitation, and second-degree conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. The couple is charged with orchestrating the theft of $4.8 million from retailers including Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, Target, Albertsons, and more. They each face a five-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors say the couple paid boosters pennies on the dollar for the items and then resold them at smaller stores in Seattle and White Center. Some items—like toothbrushes—were even allegedly smuggled to Cambodia in the trunks of cargo-bound cars for resale.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg calls the case “the tip of the iceberg” of organized theft, given that half of all retail sales in the state happen in King County. Nationally, organized theft has ramped up over the last decade to become a $30 billion-a-year trade. In 2006, state grocery chains reported up to 25 percent increases in theft, prompting legislators to make Washington the first state in the country where organized retail theft is an automatic felony charge.
Still, “It’s become a much bigger problem for our stores over the last five years,” says Jan Teague, president of the Washington Retail Association, which represents 2,800 retailers across the state.
But the trends are changing. Whereas professional theft rings used to be more nomadic—boosters traveling up from California, hitting a handful of Washington retailers, and then disappearing back to California—these two theft rings were local. And while Kong and Rim allegedly fenced their stolen goods to other stores, Greenwood business owners Gulshan Rai and his wife, Shabnam Sukhija, who own the GMS Market in Greenwood, now stand accused of giving thieves “shopping lists” of items to steal to stock their own store shelves, according to court records.
King County prosecutors allege that the couple, along with their son, Jatin Rai, and daughter-in-law, Mitu Rai, directed boosters to steal $1.2 million of merchandise for resale at their Greenwood market.
In a sting operation run by undercover detectives, goods were marked using special pens with ink that only appears under ultraviolet light, and undercover agents posing as boosters sold the goods to the GMS Market. Other undercover agents then bought items from the store and checked for the ultraviolet markings to confirm that the Rai family was reselling the “stolen” goods.
Charging documents state that when interviewed by investigators, “Sukhija admitted that she knew the items that people brought to her and her family were stolen, but attempted to justify her actions by saying that people shoplifted from their store.”
On June 2, the four family members pleaded not guilty to a variety of charges, including first-degree attempted trafficking in stolen property, attempted possession of stolen property, and conspiracy to commit organized retail theft. If convicted as charged, the family members could face sentences ranging from 9 to 22 months in prison.
None of the attorneys representing the defendants in these alleged theft ring cases returned calls for comment. Both alleged crime families are due back in court on June 16 for a hearing. 
This article has been updated since its original publication.
Man, I loved Supermarket Sweep. Someone should bring that show back.
Gotta eat.How ’bout a story on Korporate Welfare?Now THAT’S stealing!
it’s “aisles” not “isles”
AND WHAT ABOUT THE PAMPERS SIZES 3 AND 4?!?!?!
The restitution on that is gonna suck! Oh well. fuck em all. I hate thieves.
How’d they just walk out the door of QFC with a full shopping cart?
@3, fixed, thanks!
@6, Security guards are trained not to engage with suspected thieves in most cases. If a confrontation were to get physical, and an alleged thief were to get injured, the store would be liable. Also, from what I’ve heard and read, many boosters steal to support drug habits, which means they can be volatile (another reason security guards don’t want to engage). Instead, they’re trained to follow them and get as much info as they can, including license plate numbers.
Cienna, you don’t know what you are talking about in regards to store security.
Store employees are given broad authority to stop shoplifters and are generally not held liable for injuring them as long as they act in accordance with the law.
Every single major supermarket chain has undercover security officers, and they tackle shoplifters every day. Still, they can’t get them all.
Generally speaking, the store employee must observe the suspect concealing an item, giving a reasonable indication of theft.
The employee will then allow the suspect to walk past the “point of no return” (the cash register). This is so the suspect cannot later claim that they were going to pay for the merchandise.
Next, the employee will verbally confront the shoplifter and ask to speak with them about what they have seen. Of course they would prefer to resolve the situation peacefully.
If the suspect attempts to leave, the employee may use physical force to detain the suspect. The level of physical force used can escalate according to the suspects actions. Store security officers are equipped with handcuffs and sometimes pepper spray.
Once the suspect has been handcuffed and searched (with another employee witness) the police will be called and the suspect transferred to their authority.
Finally, the store can request criminal charges and civil penalties.
I used to witness people going into a Von’s (Safeway) in San Diego, and come out holding groceries without a sack (bleach, detergent, cooking oil, etc.), and they were in the store maybe 15-20 seconds. They’d walk right out of the store through automatic doors that weren’t all that close to the cash registers. The entrance allowed both entry and exit – not a very good barrier against theft.
Once I saw a young woman pull up and park very close to that door. She had three small children that she left in the car while she went in to pick up a couple of things. She was in the store so briefly that she couldn’t have paid for the items. I wondered…what if she’d been caught – having those kids in the car.
I was in biz school while I was in San Diego, and a few months later I got to speak to one of the managers of the Von’s where I shopped – the same one where I’d witnessed so much theft. He told me the store estimates it loses $1,500 a day in merchandise.
No wonder we have to pay so much for groceries these days, eh? I understand that there are hungry people out there and I want to pay taxes so that there are programs to help the needy, but I hate a thief.
@9, i don’t pay a lot for groceries. So many discounted stores here…
Fuck QFC;they’re bourgeois!Good riddance to all those overcharging mofos!Seattle’s overpriced anyways:get yours,poor people of Earth!
I have 2 words: Grocery Outlet. There is one in madrona thats open everyday until 10pm. Beats stupid costco and walmart anytime. Sells mostly organic whole foods products at a quarter of a price…