Alabaster Man Accused Of Receiving Stolen Property

SHELBY COUNTY, AL - An Alabaster man was arrested Thursday and charged with three counts of receiving stolen property after a joint investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies surrounding the sale of stolen goods on numerous online retail outlets.

The United States Secret Service Financial Crimes Task Force, which consists of detectives from Vestavia Hills PD, Mountain Brook PD, Homewood PD, Birmingham PD, Gardendale PD and Walmart Global Investigations, executed a search warrant in the 100 block of Ashford Way, Alabaster this week.

The search warrant was issued by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office in response to a two-year-long investigation into the receiving of stolen/shoplifted property from retailers throughout the Birmingham metro area and the subsequent sale of the items via an Ebay store and other social media outlets. Walmart Global Investigations uncovered an Ebay store where $1.2 million dollars in sales had been completed over several years.

The suspect, Gary Smart, 57, of Alabaster, was identified as the individual that operated the Ebay store and other social media sales outlets to liquidate the stolen/shoplifted items to unsuspecting buyers across the United States.

As a result of the search warrant, detectives recovered a significant amount of stolen products from Smart's residence and are currently compiling a list of the items and their total value.

Smart was arrested and charged with three counts of receiving stolen property with a $75,000.00 total bond requirement. The investigation is ongoing and further charges are likely to follow.

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Photo via Vestavia Hills PD