Amazon employees accused of stealing $150K worth of iPhones

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Police in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are investigating allegations that e-commerce employees stole phones and resold them for cash.

The investigation into what’s been deemed “organized Amazon retail theft ” began when ecoATM — a service in which you can sell your phone for cash and reduce electronic waste — reached out to the Fort Wayne Police Department about “a large amount of suspicious transactions involving Apple iPhone 15s.”

On Tuesday, police arrested 19-year-old Amazon employee Omar Kelly and his 18-year-old brother, Amir Kelly, in connection to 10 iPhone 15s stolen from Amazon, with an estimated value of $7,456. Six of those phones were recovered — worth about $4,280 — and both men were charged with organized retail theft, a level 6 felony.

Police said there are active warrants for another Amazon employee and her boyfriend, who allegedly sold phones to ecoATM and used other people to sell phones. Those suspects are accused of selling 154 iPhones, an estimated value of $138,094. Investigators recovered 55 of the phones, valued at about $49,413.

While those suspects weren’t identified by police, Allen Superior Court documents name them as Tanishia Palma and Adam Bigger.

“All of the suspects used ecoATMs as a vehicle to sell the stolen phones,” the Fort Wayne Police Department said.

Detectives were able to use LeadsOnline as a tool to connect all the suspects to the case.

The department credited Amazon Loss Prevention, LeadsOnline and ecoATM as partners in uncovering the theft.

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