Federal prosecutors would gain new tools to pursue organized retail and cargo theft rings that steal merchandise from stores, warehouses, and shipments. The bill lets the government combine a suspect's thefts that total $5,000 or more over any 12-month period into a single federal charge, so crews that keep each individual theft small can still be prosecuted under the interstate stolen-goods laws. It also adds embezzlement, false pretense, and "other illegal means" as covered ways of acquiring stolen goods, makes these theft offenses grounds for money-laundering charges and criminal forfeiture of proceeds, and expands the money-laundering statute to cover gift cards and prepaid cards. Separately, the Department of Homeland Security would have 90 days to stand up an Organized Retail and Supply Chain Crime Coordination Center, run by Homeland Security Investigations, to coordinate federal, state, local, and Tribal investigations and share threat information with retail and transportation companies. The center would publish annual public reports on theft trends, report to four congressional committees, and automatically shut down seven years after it is established. Retailers, shippers, and consumers are the intended beneficiaries; the findings cite a 93 percent rise in larceny incidents from 2019 to 2023 and an average cargo-theft value topping $202,000 in 2024.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- Theft aggregation — Stolen goods totaling $5,000+ over 12 months now federally chargeable
- Covered acquisition methods — Embezzlement, false pretense, and "other illegal means" added
- Criminal forfeiture — Authorized for proceeds of interstate theft and stolen-goods offenses
- Money laundering predicates — Interstate theft and stolen-goods offenses added as predicate crimes
- Money laundering scope — Gift cards and prepaid cards added to "monetary instruments"
Transparency & Accountability
- Public reporting — New DHS center must publish annual reports on retail-crime trends
- Congressional reporting — Initial and annual reports to four committees required
- Sunset clause — Center authority terminates 7 years after establishment
Congressional Summary
This bill expands federal enforcement of criminal offenses related to organized retail and supply chain crime. The term organized retail and supply chain crime includes criminal offenses involving the interstate transportation of stolen property, the sale or receipt of stolen goods, or theft from an interstate or foreign shipment that is committed by, in coordination with, or at the instruction of an organization.First, with respect to criminal offenses involving the interstate transportation of stolen property or the sale or receipt of stolen goods, the bill broadens the scope of conduct that qualifies as offenses by allowing prosecutions to be based on the aggregate value of stolen items over a 12-month period. Additionally, the bill makes the offenses predicate offenses (i.e., underlying offenses) for prosecutions under the federal money laundering statute and authorizes the criminal forfeiture of any property obtained from the proceeds of an offense.Second, with respect to criminal offenses involving theft from an interstate or foreign shipment, the bill also makes an offense an underlying offense for prosecution under the federal money laundering statute and authorizes the criminal forfeiture of any associated property.Third, the bill expands the federal money laundering statute to include offenses involving general-use prepaid cards, gift certificates, or store gift cards.Finally, the bill temporarily establishes a center within the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate federal law enforcement activities related to organized retail and supply chain crime.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 402.
- Action Date
- 2026-01-30
- Date Added
- 2026-04-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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