The sneaker resell game is at it peak, with every single soul trying to get a profit off of the latest Nike’s(mainly). Who would’ve thought to steal sample’s from the source and resell them to a buyer who then would sell to mom and pop stores? Looks like these few gentle men didn’t think their plans over thoroughly.
A Florida man spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying limited-edition sneakers stolen from Nike’s headquarters just outside of Beaverton for at least a year and resold them to businesses in Oregon and across the county, federal court documents say.
Jason Michael Keating, 35, of Sanibel, Fla., allegedly paid a man more than $20,000 for a pending shipment of stolen Nike Look See shoes during a meeting in Portland on March 24, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in federal court. The man Keating allegedly paid was a source working with a Washington County Sheriff’s detective and federal agent. The two overheard Keating mention future sneaker shipments and destroying boxes used to ship the shoes to him during the meeting, the affidavit said.
Nike’s Look See sneakers are sample versions of shoes created for use in the design process. Only a small number of the sample shoes are ordered and some never go into mass production, which makes them rare and of high value for sneaker collectors.
Keating bought Look See sneakers and then resold them to small businesses in Oregon, California, Florida, New York and New Jersey, the affidavit said.
Keating was arrested in Portland on Wednesday and is accused of receipt of stolen property.
According to the affidavit, Nike’s Director of Security Greg Fowler met with the Washington County detective on Feb. 14 and spoke about the theft of sneakers from company headquarters by employee Tung W. Ho, 35, of Portland, and former employee Kyle K. Yamaguchi, 33, of Portland.
You can read the full story on OregonLive.
