Overview
- The Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment this week charging 12 people with conspiracy in a multi‑year scheme to divert Nike shipments from its Memphis logistics center.
- Prosecutors say the group stole at least $2 million in product by creating and using 3,119 unauthorized UPS shipping labels that rerouted specific cartons for pickup by co‑conspirators.
- Investigators allege six Nike employees inside the Memphis hub brought and affixed the false labels while resellers and stores in Los Angeles received the diverted shipments.
- The probe grew after a January 2024 LAPD arrest, a 2024 snowstorm that exposed mislabeled packages, tracking devices placed in shipments and a 2025 CoolKicks warehouse raid that recovered about $500,000 in suspected stolen goods.
- Several defendants were arrested in June and face federal charges that carry multi‑year prison terms, fines and forfeiture if convicted while all remain presumed innocent as the case moves through court.