Police Raid Philly Pawnshops Arrest Owners For Stolen Goods
by Alex Lloyd Gross
The owners of three Philly area pawn shops have been indicted and will face charges of trafficking in stolen goods. The value, police said is in the millions of dollars. Society Hill Loan and K&A Money Loan Pawnbrokers (“K&A”), both in Philadelphia, and Lou’s Jewelry and Pawnshop (“Lou’s Jewelry”) in Wilmington, Delaware. are the shops in question. Federal authorities said the arrests happened last week.
Federal authorities said that Larry Leonard, 60, and Nathaniel “Nat” Leonard, 68, both of Philadelphia, Pa. were charged with conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen property. Larry Leonard was also charged with money laundering.
According to the indictment, Larry Leonard controlled the day-to-day operations of K&A and oversaw the day-to-day operations of Lou’s Jewelry, and Nat Leonard controlled the day-to-day operations of Society Hill Loan. They had people shoplift items from stores across the country and sell it to them for cash. Stores like The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, CVS, Rite Aid, Safeway, and others, which were sold on an Ebay site controlled by the Leonard’s. The merchandise was new and still in the box.
Authorities said that pawn shop employees would fail to properly l;ist the items that came in so that police could track them. Authorities said that the value of the stolen goods, some of which which came from Ohio or other states totaled at least 19 Million dollars.
Many of the items listed on their Ebay site was listed in New condition. Authorities said that the Leonards, along with other employees would ship the stolen goods to the K&A tor Society Hill site to circumvent a Delaware Law prohibiting pawn shops from selling new, in the box items unless a receipt could be provided.