‘The amount of stolen property is staggering’: Bellevue man sentenced in nearly $7M stolen goods scheme using Amazon, eBay

A man who lived in Bellevue and Las Vegas was sentenced Wednesday for his role in a scheme to sell stolen goods on Amazon and eBay.

Andrey Balun will spend 18 months in prison for conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Balun pleaded guilty in December 2025. He and his co-defendant, Vitaliy Bobak, jointly owned MBA Trading LLC, which conducted business at a Burien store operating as “We Buy Gold, Silver, and Electronics.”

“An extensive law enforcement investigation revealed that the storefront knowingly purchased goods that had been stolen from area retailers,” the attorney’s office stated. “The pair then sold the goods on Amazon or eBay for millions of dollars in profit.”

Bellevue man admitted he knew the goods were stolen, paid ‘boosters’ in cash

Balun co-owned the business since 2018 and trained Bobak on how to operate the business, according to records filed in the case. Balun admitted the business purchased goods from individual sellers knowing that the items were stolen.

His company primarily bought over-the-counter medications and health and beauty products stolen from retailers like Fred Meyer and CVS.

“In many instances, the goods still had anti-theft devices attached, or stickers saying ‘for sale only’ at a particular retailer,” the news release stated.

The men bought the goods for well below the retail price and then posted them for sale on two websites they operated on Amazon and eBay, according to records filed in the case. The Amazon store was called Medikus, and the eBay store was called abcstore555.

Money from the online stores was traced to the men’s bank accounts. The funds were then used by the men to operate the scheme by paying cash to people who stole the goods, also called “boosters,” and payroll to employees who were involved in posting and shipping the items for sale.

The men then used the rest of the money for personal expenses. Balun made at least $1 million in the final years of the scheme alone, the attorney’s office noted. Investigators traced some of that money to his purchase of a house in Las Vegas.

“The amount of stolen property in this case is staggering,” officials stated.

Prosecutors sought 4 years, say Balun kept going even after law enforcement flagged his store

When the warrant was executed in December 2023, Balun and Bobak possessed more than 74,000 items of stolen property waiting to be sold or shipped — worth around $2.4 million. There was an additional $4.5 million in sales between 2021 and mid-2023, and an unknown sum pre-2021.

Prosecutors asked for a four-year prison sentence, saying that in 2019, Balun was made aware that law enforcement knew stolen goods were passing through his online store, but instead of stopping the operation, he trained Bobak to join him in the scheme.

“He acted with impunity for years,” prosecutors wrote.

Balun agreed to forfeit $1 million to the government in his plea agreement.

Fencing stolen goods ‘hits all of us in the wallet,’ first assistant U.S. attorney says

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said acting as a “fence” for stolen goods helps organized retail theft flourish and harms the community.

“First, retailers say theft brings violence against their employees,” he stated. “Second, stores close because of theft problems and workers lose their jobs; third, businesses raise prices to cope with the theft losses, and that hits all of us in the wallet; and lastly, no taxes are paid on goods stolen from stores.”

Floyd said Washington estimates it lost $600 million due to organized retail theft in 2021.

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