A California woman has been accused of leading a sophisticated retail theft ring that stole an estimated $8 million in cosmetics from stores including Ulta and Sephora, which she then sold on Amazon. Michelle Mack, 53, was arrested in December along with her husband Kenneth at their home in a San Diego suburb, according to footage released by CNBC.
The couple were taken into custody on their sprawling 4,500-square-foot property, which includes a vineyard and a chapel rented out for weddings. Their teenage daughters watched nearby as police made the arrests. Seven other individuals allegedly involved in the thefts were also taken into custody following an investigation by state and federal agencies, as well as teams from Sephora and Ulta.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the arrests last month, stating that the operation was an “audacious instance of organized retail theft.” He said the crime had “significant financial and safety implications for businesses, retailers and consumers.” Mack is accused of recruiting women to steal specific high-demand makeup products in bulk from stores across 21 counties, from Sacramento to Los Angeles.
The stolen goods were allegedly sold through Mack’s Amazon store at nearly 50% below retail price, generating almost $2 million in revenue in 2022 alone. Authorities found large quantities of still-packaged makeup, “organized and prepped for shipping,” at Mack’s home. With assistance from Ulta and Sephora, they recovered an estimated $400,000 in products from residences.
The arrests come amid heightened concerns over retail theft in the US, with major retailers like Walgreens, Ulta, and Walmart reporting rising losses. However, some experts have questioned the scale of the problem, noting that retailers may be exaggerating the impact. The National Retail Federation recently retracted a claim that half of the industry’s $94.5 billion inventory losses in 2021 were due to organized retail crime.
