Two Men Hit Colonia Home Depot in Fraud Scheme

Colonia, NJ - The Colonia Home Depot was targeted as part of scheme by two Brooklyn men who stole more than $250,000 from various Home Depot locations, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced Tuesday.

Renauld Medard, 75, and Wesly Dieudonne, 31, have already been convicted, and were sentenced Tuesday.

Here's how their scheme worked: The two men would purchase various items from Home Depot stores using cash, credit cards or store credit, and, of course, get a receipt for the purchase.

Then, a few days later, they would go back into the Home Depot and put all the exact same items they had just bought into their cart. At the register, they would act as if they had just paid for everything, but returned to the store because they forgot to buy something, usually a small, cheap item. They would show the cashier the receipt, deceiving the cashiers into believing that the new set of goods in their cart had already been bought and paid for.

They stole $897 worth of goods from the Colonia Home Depot in this fashion, prosecutors said.

Their scheme was prolific: From July 2009 through November 2011, Medard and Dieudonne stole more than $250,000 total from Home Depot stores. They hit Home Depots in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New Jersey

They would also return stolen items, showing the receipt for the stolen item for a cash return. In other instances, they obtained a refund for store credit without presenting a receipt.