SEATTLE — Two men accused of leading a nationwide $5.6 million retail theft scheme are scheduled to be arraigned Friday in federal court in Seattle, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
Brian Vinh Pham, 29, of Arlington, Texas, and Romar Aragon Noto, 22, of North Hills, Calif., face a three-count federal indictment charging them with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and money laundering, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the scheme ran from April 2023 to February 2026 and targeted four online retailers. Prosecutors said the duo collected more than $3 million by reselling stolen merchandise to consumers on Amazon Marketplace, as well as to third-party resellers and wholesalers.
The federal investigation, led by the FBI, alleges that Pham and Noto exploited retail return policies to obtain fraudulent refunds and capitalized on a website glitch to obtain tens of thousands of products without payment.
The indictment details how the ring targeted return policies across multiple online businesses. After ordering merchandise, they say the suspects initiated returns with retailers that issued refunds as soon as return shipping labels were scanned. Prosecutors said the group used various tactics to show packages were shipped without returning the goods, sometimes affixing return labels to empty boxes or envelopes.
In one five-month period, a home improvement retailer paid $124,000 in refunds to the group for more than 200 expander tools that were never returned. Pham and Noto then allegedly sold expander tools on Amazon Marketplace for $96,000. Prosecutors say, during a 10-month period, the group obtained more than $162,000 in refunds for more than 350 tankless water heaters. They resold 297 of those water heaters on Amazon Marketplace for over $181,000. In total, that retailer was defrauded of more than 2,800 items valued at over $1.4 million.
The theft ring also allegedly defrauded two online clothing retailers. One clothing retailer lost 15,000 garments worth over $1 million, which were resold in bulk to third-party resellers. They say another retailer was defrauded of $767,000 in clothing across roughly 900 orders where refunds were claimed without returning items.
Documents say the co-conspirators also targeted a manufacturer of insulated stainless-steel tumblers. The company initially issued over $53,000 in refunds for more than 1,000 tumblers that were never returned. They say the group then exploited a website glitch that canceled bulk orders but still fulfilled and shipped the products without payment. Using the messaging platform Discord, the group coordinated more than 7,000 orders seeking more than 150,000 tumblers worth $6.5 million. They successfully stole more than 55,000 tumblers valued at $2.4 million across 2,700 orders, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Pham and Noto allegedly used warehouses in Texas and California to store the tumbler inventory before reselling the items. To execute the scheme and move ill-gotten funds, the men set up multiple business entities and bank accounts. Both face money laundering charges for allegedly transferring proceeds between their corporate accounts.
Prosecutors say conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. Money laundering carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The arraignment is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
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