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After a report in April that Nike was suing former employees for allegedly stealing and reselling valuable sneakers, three men have now been charged with conspiracy in exchanging stolen goods in the form of limited edition Nike sneakers. A federal grand jury indicted former Nike staff members Kyle K. Yamaguchi and Tung W. Ho, as well as Florida footwear collector Jason M. Keating, for stealing and selling hundreds of rare samples and PEs. Yamaguchi and Ho were ordering promotional and sample shoes as employees of Nike, then selling them to Keating who would flip the pairs for profit. Ho alone admitted to stealing several hundred boxes of sneakers from Nike before 1,950 pairs were seized from his home in March.
The operation reportedly ran from 2006 to 2014, but from 2012-14 alone, Keating reportedly paid Yamaguchi nearly $680,000 for over 630 pairs of allegedly stolen shoes. Give us your feedback in the comment section below, get the full report from Oregon Live here and keep Nice Kicks bookmarked for updates as this case progresses.