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Two charged in rug scam may be part of fraud ring
By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
Two men who authorities suspect are connected with a Chicago-based fraud ring were arrested Tuesday night in Pinellas County. Pinellas sheriff's officials tailed the pair after learning they were buying rugs at Home Depot stores, then using computers and publishing software to print receipts and tags for TJ Maxx stores. The pair attached the fake tags to the rugs, then went to TJ Maxx stores and said they were returning them. The prices they placed on the rugs were three times the price they paid at Home Depot, officials said. Chicago residents Alfred Kolek, 31, and Janusz J. Jarzabek, 25, were charged with felony counts of scheming to defraud. More charges are expected to be filed against them, said Marianne Pasha, a sheriff's spokeswoman. They were arrested after authorities said they pulled the scam at the TJ Maxx at 6157 Ninth Ave. N. in St. Petersburg late Tuesday afternoon. Sheriff's officials said the men are suspected of similar crimes in 11 other counties in Florida. Pasha said they also are suspected of the same type of scam in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. The men made about $2,000 per day, she said. Pasha said they shipped out their profits, presumably to accomplices. Other agencies, including the Chicago Police Department, are involved in the investigation. Federal authorities also may join in, Pasha said. "We're now sharing information with other agencies, trying to see the nature of the ring and see what further investigation is required and what further charges could be possible," Pasha said. "These two are two of many that are in other states doing the same thing. We believe we have the persons on the lower rungs of the ladder." "We're still trying to develop what the whole group is and the entire picture and how widespread they are and where the money is going," she added. Sheriff's investigators began watching the men recently after receiving information from security officials at TJ Maxx and Marshalls department stores. They apparently had learned of the scheme and thought the thieves might be in Pinellas, Pasha said. "We were alerted by them that these two might be in our area," she said. "They put us on to the suspects."
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From the Times North Pinellas desks |
