Bottega Veneta sunglasses, originally priced at $450, were available for $116.
A Zadig and Voltaire blazer, valued at $650, was bought for $100.
A Tory Burch sling bag, priced over $500, was sold for $109.
This is a sampling of items sold by a user on an e-commerce website, matching the description of a woman who has now been arrested for allegedly selling more than 1,000 luxury items she got from rental websites, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
The Michigan woman allegedly pocketed more than $750,000 by selling stolen designer items worth $800,000, until federal prosecutors caught up with her.
Brandalene Horn, 42, was arrested at her home in Freeland, Mich., on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Horn rented the luxury clothing from at least three subscription-based clothing rental companies — these companies allow consumers to rent a specific amount of clothing items on a monthly basis for a subscription fee.
Instead of eventually returning the items, prosecutors say, Horn created more than 170 accounts to sell the items. She engaged in the scheme for nearly two years, from at least April 2022 to February 2024, they say.
Often, the photos and descriptions that Horn uploaded on her websites matched those from the victim companies. Some of the items sold were worth thousands of dollars, the Justice Department said in a release.
An image of Horn's listing for an allegedly stolen designer dress on an e-commerce marketplace. (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York)
A K.ngsley Cherie gown valued at around $1,100 was available on one of Horn’s websites for $189, the Justice Department said in its release, which identified “CashHorn,” as one of Horn’s usernames for selling items.
A user on Poshmark by the same username and “House of Cash” as her profile name also has a sold-out Cherie Dress. Poshmark is a website where users buy and sell new and secondhand fashion and other items.
The “House of Cash” page, still active Thursday morning, has more than 2,500 listings and almost 200,000 followers.
The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment to The Washington Post.
The rental companies attempted to charge Horn for items she rented and didn’t return, but she disputed these charges with her credit union or she canceled the credit and debit cards she had provided to the rental companies, the Justice Department said.
When rental companies flagged or closed Horn’s account because of fraudulent activity, she opened new accounts to “continue stealing and selling luxury and designer goods,” the release said.
“As alleged, Brandalene Horn perpetrated a lucrative scheme in which she defrauded at least three victim companies, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of luxury and designer items, and then sold those stolen items online,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the news release.
If convicted and given the maximum penalty on all three charges, Horn could be looking at up to 50 years in prison — 20 years for the mail fraud charge, 20 years for the wire fraud charge and 10 years for the charge of interstate transportation of stolen property.
A Zadig and Voltaire blazer, valued at $650, was bought for $100.
A Tory Burch sling bag, priced over $500, was sold for $109.
This is a sampling of items sold by a user on an e-commerce website, matching the description of a woman who has now been arrested for allegedly selling more than 1,000 luxury items she got from rental websites, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
The Michigan woman allegedly pocketed more than $750,000 by selling stolen designer items worth $800,000, until federal prosecutors caught up with her.
Brandalene Horn, 42, was arrested at her home in Freeland, Mich., on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Horn rented the luxury clothing from at least three subscription-based clothing rental companies — these companies allow consumers to rent a specific amount of clothing items on a monthly basis for a subscription fee.
Instead of eventually returning the items, prosecutors say, Horn created more than 170 accounts to sell the items. She engaged in the scheme for nearly two years, from at least April 2022 to February 2024, they say.
Often, the photos and descriptions that Horn uploaded on her websites matched those from the victim companies. Some of the items sold were worth thousands of dollars, the Justice Department said in a release.
An image of Horn's listing for an allegedly stolen designer dress on an e-commerce marketplace. (U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York)
A K.ngsley Cherie gown valued at around $1,100 was available on one of Horn’s websites for $189, the Justice Department said in its release, which identified “CashHorn,” as one of Horn’s usernames for selling items.
A user on Poshmark by the same username and “House of Cash” as her profile name also has a sold-out Cherie Dress. Poshmark is a website where users buy and sell new and secondhand fashion and other items.
The “House of Cash” page, still active Thursday morning, has more than 2,500 listings and almost 200,000 followers.
The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment to The Washington Post.
The rental companies attempted to charge Horn for items she rented and didn’t return, but she disputed these charges with her credit union or she canceled the credit and debit cards she had provided to the rental companies, the Justice Department said.
When rental companies flagged or closed Horn’s account because of fraudulent activity, she opened new accounts to “continue stealing and selling luxury and designer goods,” the release said.
“As alleged, Brandalene Horn perpetrated a lucrative scheme in which she defrauded at least three victim companies, stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of luxury and designer items, and then sold those stolen items online,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the news release.
If convicted and given the maximum penalty on all three charges, Horn could be looking at up to 50 years in prison — 20 years for the mail fraud charge, 20 years for the wire fraud charge and 10 years for the charge of interstate transportation of stolen property.
