Valley Stream Woman Accused of Running Mother-Daughter Retail Theft Ring In Home Where She Ran A Daycare: DA

VALLEY STREAM, NY — A mother-daughter duo are facing grand larceny and other charges this week after Queens County prosecutors said they directed “boosters” to steal high-demand clothes and cosmetic products from retailers then sold the stolen goods.

According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, 47-year-old Maria Betances and 24-year-old Leslie Cruz are accused of running a retail theft ring out of Betances’ Valley Stream home and Cruz’s home in East Elmhurst.

Both Betances and Cruz are charged with second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree attempted criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree conspiracy, while Betances is facing an additional charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

According to prosecutors, an investigation into Betances and Cruz began as a retail theft and fencing probe focused on Betances’ home, where she operated “Smile Bright Day Care,” looking after children as young as six weeks and as old as 12 years.

Per prosecutors, the investigation revealed that Betances and Cruz had directed four “boosters” to steal “large quantities of goods” from retailers including CVS, Home Goods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ulta Beauty, specifically targeting “items they could resell quickly and for a high price.” Those retailers, prosecutors said, were located across Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Westchester and Rockland.

Once the items were secured, the boosters sold them to Betances at her home, Cruz at hers, or other locations.

As part of the investigation, prosecutors said undercover police began selling purported stolen beauty products and clothing to Betances and Cruz, making 10 sales between Feb. 10 and July 16 of this year. In those sales, prosecutors said Betances and Cruz paid between 17 and 37 percent of the items’ retail value. Betances, prosecutors said, told investigators she was looking for high-end beauty products from Chanel, Christian Dior, Gucci and Prada.

On April 14, a shipping company picked up a blue shipping drum from Betances’ garage and put it on a truck before the drum had a hold placed on it by U.S. Customs.

“A court-authorized search of the contents resulted in the recovery of 760 beauty items with a combined retail value of $22,419, that were allegedly stolen by the defendants’ booster crew or purchased by the defendants from the undercover officers,” Prosecutors said.

Then, on July 21, police executed a search warrant at Betances’ home and found “4,272 pieces of allegedly stolen and purported stolen merchandise with a combined retail value of $131,114 including cosmetics, sex toys, pajamas and clothing from retailers such as Ulta Beauty, Victoria’s Secret, Polo Ralph Lauren and others; hundreds of broken security devices and alarms; and tools to remove security devices,” prosecutors said.

Authorities also found $10,000 cash at Betances’ home, prosecutors said.

The same day, authorities executed a warrant at Cruz’s home and found 101 pieces of alleged stolen merchandise worth a total of $6,067, in addition to $20,000 cash.

“As alleged, these defendants directed theft crews to steal from numerous retailers in the New York City area, stored the goods in their homes and then advertised the merchandise via social media for sale locally,” Katz said. “Other products were shipped to the Dominican Republic for resale in that country. Retail theft hurts all consumers and leads to higher prices on the checkout line. I thank our partners at the New York State Police and Homeland Security Investigations for their work on this case and we pledge to use every tool at our disposal to stop these organized retail theft rings.”

Betances and Cruz are both due back in court Sept. 29 and could face five to 15 years in prison if found guilty.