A 40-year-old from Michigan has been accused of stealing more than US$823,000 worth of luxury clothing from rental companies, then reselling the merchandise at low prices online, pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“As has been alleged, Brandalene Horn perpetrated a lucrative scheme in which she defrauded at least three businesses, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of luxury and designer items, and then sold these stolen items online” , US Attorney Damian Williams reportedly said in a statement, according to NBC News on Thursday.
The 42-year-old woman would have been handcuffed on Wednesday, for having probably orchestrated her scheme over a period of almost two years, if not more, between April 2022 and February 2024, noted the American media.
In total, the woman managed to get her hands on 1,063 items, worth more than US$823,000, then pocketed more than US$750,000 through their resale, the federal justice department alleged.
To do this, the American allegedly created hundreds of accounts on three platforms to rent luxury clothing, and then disputed the charges with her credit card, or completely canceled her bank accounts when the company tried to charge her. .
But according to what the New York Postshe even went so far as to brag about the fruits of her crime on a Facebook resale group by sharing the total amount obtained by the resale of 609 items.
At one point, she also allegedly reported a woman who accused her of theft for posting ads using photos and item descriptions that “substantially matched” those of the stolen businesses.
“A lady stalked me on social media last week (June 2023) and accused me of theft because I used a bunch of photos from Rent the Runway in my ads. I told her: ‘Ma’am, if it’s true, don’t you think I would be in prison for robbery?'” she allegedly wrote according to a screenshot shared by the New York Post.
The woman now faces one count of mail fraud, one count of electronic fraud and one count of interstate transportation of stolen goods, which could earn her 50 years behind bars if guilty, according to the American media.
