A man and a woman were taken into custody for allegedly returning fraudulent designer items at a Glendale Nordstrom over a seven-year span, resulting in losses exceeding $300,000, police announced Thursday.
The investigation began in February when a Nordstrom employee identified a suspect trying to return a counterfeit item, according to the Glendale Police Department. Police and Nordstrom investigators identified a pattern of fraudulent activity allegedly linked to two Glendale residents, later identified as Arpineh Sarkissian, 40, and Argin Gharapetian, 32, according to police.
Police said investigators learned that since 2019, the two suspects had made more than 224 purchases of high-end designer clothing and cosmetics, then subsequently returned counterfeit versions of the items.
Nordstrom is believed to have suffered about $300,000 in losses.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the suspects’ residence on April 22. A large quantity of high-end designer clothing, purses, shoes, and cosmetics was recovered during the search, police said. Investigators also located counterfeit items, merchandise tags, packaging materials, and identifiable stolen property, with evidence indicating that the authentic items were being resold through an online merchant platform, according to police.
Sarkisian and Gharapetian were arrested and booked on suspicion of multiple offenses, including felony grand theft, receiving stolen property, and theft by false pretenses. Sarkisian was cited and released the same day. Jail records for Gharapetian were not immediately available.
Anyone with information was urged to contact the Glendale Police Financial Crimes Unit at 818-548-3101.