Massive retail theft and gift card fraud ring targeting seniors busted in Santa Clara County
By Carlos E. Castañeda
Authorities in Santa Clara County say they have broken up a huge theft and fraud ring that targeted major retailers, along with hundreds of elderly victims across the country.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Thursday that the sprawling enterprise was responsible for trafficking in millions of dollars’ worth of stolen goods from stores such as Target, Lowe’s and The Home Depot.
The investigation began in June 2025, when detectives began tracking retail thefts, and they uncovered a highly sophisticated criminal network operating across the Bay Area and beyond, the Sheriff’s Office said. Six suspects were identified, five from Santa Clara County and one from Los Angeles County.
The Sheriff’s Office said Thanh Vo, 23, of San Jose, and Corey Guting, 37, of Milpitas, allegedly supplied stolen items to Erik Nguyen, 45, of San Jose. Nguyen also allegedly purchased and resold large quantities of goods from suspects Ye Zhang, 37 of Monterey Park; De Lu, 25, of San Jose; and Yan Wong, 32, of Campbell — who were buying merchandise with illicit funds from a widespread gift card scam. Zhang, Lu, and Wong operated online marketplaces, shipping products to buyers across the country, the Sheriff’s Office said.
On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office raided homes, storage units and a warehouse in San Jose in Campbell used as storage, drop-off and distribution centers for stolen merchandise. One home in the Banana Grove neighborhood of South San Jose contained more than a dozen box truckloads of merchandise from The Home Depot, with every room, hallway and closet in the house packed floor-to-ceiling with stolen goods, the Sheriff’s Office said, with an estimated value exceeding $1 million.
The home also had nearly 100 totes filled with bottles of wine stolen from Target stores.
“This case is one of the most significant takedowns of organized retail crime we’ve seen in Santa Clara County,” said Sheriff Robert Jonsen in a prepared statement. “It shows what’s possible when skilled investigators, strong partnerships, and targeted resources come together to protect our communities.”
The gift card fraud aspect of the operation was nationwide in scope, the Sheriff’s Office said, targeting hundreds of victims through online and phone scams. The victims, many of them elderly, were coerced into buying high-value gift cards, often from The Home Depot and Lowe’s, and providing the card information to scammers. The Sheriff’s Office said the cards were then allegedly used by Zhang, Lu, Wong, and their associates to purchase thousands of dollars in merchandise daily.
It’s believed that more than $10,000 worth of fraudulent gift card purchases occurred each day at Bay Area retail locations for several months, the office said.
The six suspects were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges including organized retail theft, financial elder abuse, theft by false pretenses, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy.
The case marks the largest recovery of stolen goods since the Sheriff’s retail task force was formed in 2024. Investigators believe more people may have been victimized by the scheme, and the office urged anyone with information to contact investigators at ORT@shf.sccgov.org.
