By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Wednesday that a Brooklyn man has been charged with stealing 1,838 pairs of work boots and sneakers through a program meant to provide free safety footwear to new employees of Amazon, where he worked. Asraf Mohamed, 33, allegedly created accounts in the names of new employees without their knowledge and obtained the shoes, later reselling them online.
Mohamed, 33, of Brooklyn, was arraigned Tuesday night on a criminal complaint charging him with grand larceny in the second degree and criminal possession of stolen property in the second degree.
According to the charges and investigation, Mohamed worked at an Amazon facility on Grand Avenue in Maspeth from July 2020 to September 2023, when he was terminated. In his role, he was responsible for training new drivers and had access to a national database of new employees.
Photo Courtesy of Zappos
The footwear brands included Timberland (pictured), Dr. Martens, Wolverine, Carhartt, New Balance and Brooks.
Between Nov. 12, 2022, and June 9, 2023, Mohamed allegedly created 1,838 unique accounts with Zappos.com, an Amazon subsidiary, using the information of new employees through an Amazon program called Zappos at Work. The program was designed to provide workers with a free pair of work boots or sneakers to be worn on the job.
A total of 79 shoe orders were delivered to Mohamed’s residential address and another 1,759 orders were delivered to his brother’s address in Queens. The footwear brands included Timberland, Dr. Martens, Wolverine, Carhartt, New Balance and Brooks.
Mohamed allegedly sold the shoes, which had a total retail value of $224,834, on eBay.
He was arrested Tuesday morning outside his home.
“As alleged, this defendant took advantage of his position at Amazon to gather information on fellow workers, compromising their safety to line his own pockets to the tune of $224,000,” Katz said. “Retail theft, whether against mom-and-pop shops or large corporations, hurts all consumers as it causes prices to rise.”
If convicted of the top count, Mohamed faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.
