Orland Park Father, Son Behind Chicago Fencing Ring, Police Say

A father and son from Orland Park are accused of reselling more than $100,000 worth stolen brand name household items.

Mahmoud Yassin, 60, and Yassin Yassin, 18, both of the 15400 block of Hollywood Drive, were charged with two felony counts of theft, according to a Chicago police news release. Numa Shlain, 67, of the 200 block of Woodstone Circle in Buffalo Grove, also was charged with felony theft. Police said he was an associate of the Yassins.

An investigation involving police departments in Chicago, Mt. Prospect and Orland Park, along with major retailers, targeted shoplifters operating in the city and concluded Wednesday with the arrests of Shlain and the Yassins, police said.

Chicago and Mt. Prospect officers determined a Northwest Side store was buying in-demand common products, such as coffee, cold medicine, cigarettes, soda, razor blades and teeth whitening strips, from shoplifters who stole the items from other Chicago stores, police said. The stolen goods were then sold to the store at a discount. Undercover officers posed as shoplifters and sold boosted items to Discount Cigarettes, located in the 2900 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.

Police said the fencing operation provided a "continuous cashflow" for sticky-fingered thieves.

Yassin, his son and Shlain allegedly resold ill-gotten merchandise at three Chicago stores and through a resale website, according to police. Search warrants were executed Wednesday at their suburban homes. Officers seized $100,000 cash and five vehicles.

Investigators also found the homes in Orland Park and Buffalo Grove were used to organize and store some of the products for shipment after purchases on the resale site, police said.

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