A Connecticut man allegedly defrauded Home Depot of nearly $300,000 with a non-receipted return scheme, federal prosecutors say.
Charging documents allege that Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, walked into Home Depot stores in eight states, grabbed expensive doors and then returned them without a receipt in exchange for store credit.
Costa-Morta was detained without bail after a judge in federal court in Rhode Island entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. attorney's office in Providence said in a statement Wednesday.
An attorney representing Costa-Mota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The alleged fraud took place between June 2021 and February 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors say Costa-Mota entered stores empty-handed, "dressed to appear like a contractor." He would then collect Anderson doors and bring them to each store's service department, where he made non-receipted returns of the doors.
Each time he succeeded, Costa-Mota was given a store credit that he later redeemed at other stores in Connecticut and neighboring states. If a store refused to accept the returns, Costa-Mota allegedly took the Anderson doors without paying for them and returned them at other stores for store credit.
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This scheme went on for at least nine months, during which Costa-Mota allegedly received 370 fraudulent store credits worth $297,332. Home Depot stores in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey were involved.
Home Depot's policy is to allow customers to return items without a receipt, but the home improvement chain has safeguards in place that are intended to prevent people from taking advantage, including asking for identification that requires third-party verification, according to court documents.
Home Depot's website states: "We require a valid driver’s license or government-issued photo identification for non-receipted returns and returns generated from purchases made with store credits. The Home Depot uses a third-party refund verification system. All returns are subject to verification system approval."
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Costa-Mota allegedly circumvented these safeguards by using fraudulent driver's licenses or identification containing made-up names to make the returns.
Organized Retail Crime Investigators for Home Depot provided law enforcement with video surveillance, pictures and documentation of the thefts allegedly committed by Costa-Mota, a criminal complaint states.
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A spokesperson for Home Depot directed a request for comment to local law enforcement or the federal prosecutor's office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
