Ekaterina Zharkova, 38, living in Costa Mesa California, has been charged with four counts of grand theft, seven counts of petty theft and a count of receiving stolen property.
It is alleged that she lifted over $300k of goods from high-end stores in the area, such as Gucci, Prada and Jimmy Choo. She is suspected of working stores in Costa Mesa, as well as nearby Fountain Valley and Tustin.
According to the Daily Mail, "the suspect, of Russian descent, also has other felony charges relating to grand theft in Orange and Los Angeles counties. She is wanted on a $320,000 warrant after failing to appear in court for those charges on Friday."
Zharkova was arrested on Nov. 23 2021 by the California Highway Patrol's Retail Theft division, after they received a tip from a store investigator. She posted a bond of $20,000 and was released from custody.
She allegedly had filled a shopping carts with expensive items, removed the security sensors on them with a special tool, covered the items with a large coat and left the store without paying.
Later, a search warrant was issued for her Costa Mesa residence. Authorities, upon arriving, found that the place was "packed wall-to-wall in every room" with items, many with the price tags still intact on them.
The total estimated value of the goods recovered by the warrant is $328k.
Retail theft at this level has surged throughout the US in the year 2021, with California being at the epicenter of these types of incidents. In one case, a store worker was even killed trying to foil an incident of shoplifting in a Los Angeles Rite Aid.
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