I suspect that the owners of these stores might have something to do with it. They hire “looters”, then turn in big insurance claims, “looters” sell the “stolen” merchandise, and split the money with the owners. When a crime is this brazen and in broad daylight, there is something more than just crime going on. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the cops are being paid off as well.
Most insurance policies for retail stores do Not cover shoplifting or looting or smash and grabs.
Now if the thieves pulled out a gun and robbed the place (armed robbery) that would be covered.
That’s why Big Chain stores decided to close rather than take continued losses.
If someone in a normal State was found guilty of shoplifting, often that’s where and when a retailer can try to recoup losses by order of the court, as part of the perp’s punishment.
“I suspect that the owners of these stores might have something to do with it. They hire “looters”, then turn in big insurance claims, “looters” sell the “stolen” merchandise, and split the money with the owners…”
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Nope… these looters are doing it on their own. The folks who buy most of the stolen items taken from the Apple store will, in the end, find out they are suckers. Apple will be able to remotely “brick” most of the valuable items.
....having owned many “stores” in my life I can tell you that what you say here is, politely, non sense. There are more reasons than stars in the sky NOT to do anything like this.
That said, there might me an owner that’s going broke and drowning financially that might decide to commit insurance fraud but it would be a rare event. So, if you mean what you say here to be “once in a while” or “every now and then”, I agree with you that that is possible.
“ I suspect that the owners of these stores might have something to do with it. They hire “looters”, then turn in big insurance claims,”
I don’t think most insurance covers civil unrest.
This is a ridiculous claim.
The store is owned by Apple. Depending on the day and the stock market Apple is either the largest or second-largest company in the US. Do you really think they are going to take the risks of $20k worth of insurance fraud?
That's unlikely.
Unless you're on the verge of going out of business, I can't think of any scenario where employing looters to smash up your store and steal everything would be profitable.
A lot of smaller stores are underinsured as it is and then there's the lost business hours while you have to wait to get you display cases repaired and your inventory replinished.
“I suspect that the owners of these stores might have something to do with it.”
The owners are the stock holders.
“I suspect that the owners of these stores might have something to do with it. They hire “looters”, then turn in big insurance claims, “looters” sell the “stolen” merchandise, and split the money with the owners. When a crime is this brazen and in broad daylight, there is something more than just crime going on. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that the cops are being paid off as well.”
You think that up all by yourself? So a little math..... $20K in retail equals $4,000 in stolen goods value. So at best, the corporate owners of the store AND the police are in on this scam and risk jail time for a fractional share of a $4,000 take?
Do better.
I think I agree. Apple makes hundreds of millions of dollars and yet they can’t give money to the stores for armed guards? Gucci, Louis Vitton same thing. One security guard? No coverage for breaks? Like thieves don’t watch?
Finding hard to believe NSA, FBI, just can’t figure out these gangs and bust them.
That is the stupidest comment I think I have ever read on FR. These chain stores are owned by huge corporations and are SELF INSURED for the inventories. The losses are not covered against shrinkage… even Mom & Pop store are seldom insured against theft for shoplifting. That kind of insurance is too damn expensive. Grow up and get into the real world. The cost of theft is built-in to the sales price.
Their insurance will skyrocket after that. This would not make sense for major retailers - maybe a mom and pop about to close