West Hartford Man Indicted In $297K Home Depot Fraud Scheme

PROVIDENCE, RI — A West Hartford resident has been arraigned in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud and stands accused of participating in a six-figure rip off scheme involving Home Depot stores in eight states.

The fraud totaled $297,332, United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said.

According to documents related to the case, from "at least" June 2021 to February 2022, Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, took part in "non-receipted return fraud schemes" at more than two dozen Home Depot stores located primarily in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, but also in Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.

Costa-Mota is accused of entering stores empty handed, dressed like a contractor, and collecting Anderson doors, which he then brought to each store's service department for non-receipted returns, Cunha said.

With each successful return, Costa-Mota was provided with a store credit that he later redeemed at other stores, mainly located in Connecticut, Cunha said.

At times, when the stores refused to accept the returns, Costa-Mota exited the stores with the doors without paying for them and then returned them at other stores for store credit, Cunha said.

According to case records, Costa-Mota received approximately 370 fraudulent store credits that added up to the $297,332.

A federal grand jury in Providence returned an indictment on July 26 charging Costa-Mota with wire fraud and conspiracy. He was arraigned before a United States Magistrate Judge Tuesday and ordered detained.