ST. LOUIS – Local St. Louis area police departments played a large role in dismantling an international theft operation.

A sleight-of-hand suspect was netting thousands of dollars in single trips to stores. Wal-Mart stores across the country were mostly the targets. At least six of the stores hit were in the St. Louis region during four days in June 2023. Court records say the suspect stole more than $16,000 in the short time span.

Federal investigators say the total loss to Wal-Mart stores added up to more than $100,000 in a period of just a few months last summer.

The only lead police had in the beginning was a surveillance picture of the suspect inside a store. Two police jurisdictions—Arnold and Eureka—began working together to find out who it was as the Wal-Mart stores were hit the same day.

“We worked backwards. We found how did he or she get there?” Eureka Police Captain Michael Werge said.

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Detectives identified a car the suspect used and traced it to a rental company. They got a hit of a driver’s license belonging to Canadian citizen Mohsen Akbari.

“We’re very heavy in technology. We went ahead and started working with a name,” Capt. Werges said. “Our detective placed him at 27 scenes across the United States using technology we have right here in Eureka.”

Homeland Security took over the investigation and built a case under the supervision of Federal Prosecutor Kyle Bateman.

“This is a unique case that involved many different police departments, but locally here, Eureka and Arnold were the first responders,” he said.

A federal judge sentenced Akbari to 15 months in prison and ordered restitution of $109,452, $75,000 of which has already been seized. Akbari will be deported after his prison term.

Eureka Police Department’s key legwork began with just a $500 theft.

“We view it as not only a good thing for our businesses and residents to actively go after those who commit crimes in our city, we view it as a good thing for our region and potentially the country,” Capt. Werges said.

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