From a mansion in a San Diego suburb, Michelle Mack allegedly oversaw a retail theft ring that stole $8 million in cosmetics from stores such as Ulta Beauty and Sephora, which she then sold on Amazon.

In December, police arrested the 53-year-old along with her husband, Kenneth, taking the pair into custody on their sprawling property, according to footage taken by CNBC and published this week. Their teen daughters watched nearby, the outlet reported.

The couple was arrested along with seven people who allegedly participated in the thefts after an investigation by state and federal agencies and teams from Sephora and Ulta Beauty, the California attorney general’s office announced in a statement last month.

“Organised retail crime has significant financial and safety implications for businesses, retailers and consumers,” said Rob Bonta, the state’s attorney general. “Today, we are addressing an audacious instance of organised retail theft and making it clear that such criminal activity will not be accepted in California.”

The arrest comes as lawmakers and officials have pledged to crack down on retail theft. Major companies from Walgreens to Ulta to Walmart have said thefts are rising and cutting their profits while high-profile “smash and grab” robberies in California have made headlines nationwide. But the actual extent of the impact is unclear and some experts have suggested retailers may be exaggerating the effects.

Walgreens reported that thefts surged in 2022, even forcing it to close some stores in San Francisco, but later indicated it may have overstated the problem. In December, the National Retail Federation, a powerful lobbying group, retracted a claim that half of the industry’s $94.5 billion inventory losses in 2021 was due “organised retail crime”.

The scale of Mack’s alleged crime ring appears to be substantial with participants allegedly paid to steal items from stores in 21 counties from Sacramento to Los Angeles. The arrests followed an investigation by the California department of justice, California highway patrol, Department of Homeland Security, US Postal Inspection Service and representatives from Sephora and Ulta, the attorney general’s office said.

Mack allegedly operated the ring from her 4,500-sq-ft home, which had a vineyard and chapel that she and her husband rented out for weddings. She is accused of recruiting women to go to retail stores and “commit bulk thefts of specific high-demand makeup product” that she would sell on her Amazon store.

Her store sold goods at almost 50 percent less than retail price and brought in almost $2 million in 2022.

Authorities found large amounts of still-packaged makeup “organised and prepped for shipping” at Mack’s home, according to the complaint. With assistance from Ulta Beauty and Sephora, they recovered an estimated $400,000 in products from residences.

Mack and her husband have pleaded not guilty.

By Dani Anguiano

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