West Hartford man charged in Rhode Island with allegedly scamming Home Depot out of nearly $300K

A West Hartford man was arraigned this week at U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud, according to federal authorities.

Authorities said the indictment alleges that Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, “participated in a scheme to defraud Home Depot stores in eight states, including Rhode Island, of approximately $297,332.”

Authorities, citing charging documents, said that, “from at least June 2021 to February 2022, Costa-Mota “executed non-receipted return fraud schemes at more than two dozen Home Depot stores located primarily in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, but also in Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.”

“It is alleged that Costa-Mota entered stores empty handed, dressed to appear like a contractor. He then collected Anderson doors, which he brought to each store’s Service Department where he made non-receipted returns of the doors,” federal authorities said in a statement. “With each successful return, Costa-Mota was provided with a store credit that he later redeemed at other stores, mainly located in Connecticut.

“At times, when the stores refused to accept the receiptless returns, Costa-Mota simply exited the stores with the Anderson doors without paying for them and then returned the doors at other stores for store credit,” federal authorities said in the statement.

Authorities allege Costa-Mota received about 370 fraudulent store credits, valued at $297,332.

A federal grand jury in Providence returned an indictment on July 26, charging Costa-Mota with wire fraud and conspiracy, the statement sent by the office of announced U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said. Costa-Mota was arraigned before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on Tuesday and ordered detained.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dulce Donovan.