BOSTON, Mass. – A New York man has been arrested and charged in a cargo theft case that involves numerous states.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts issued a media release stating that Romoy Forbes, 31, a Jamaican national living in Deer Park, New York allegedly conspired to infiltrate email accounts of legitimate truckload carriers, using the hacked accounts to book cargo with shippers and selling the items for illicit profit. The goods allegedly stolen include over 33,000 pounds of frozen snow crab, pallets of blueberries and more than $400,000 of designer cologne.
Forbes has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods, and conspiracy to commit that offense, according to the release.
Forbes was arrested Thursday in Long Island, N.Y. and will make his initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Federal authorities say on July 15, 2025, Forbes allegedly stole 33,750 pounds of frozen snow crabs worth $325,000 from a warehouse that held the goods in Worcester, Mass. Leading up to the theft, a co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of a trucking carrier company (Carrier 1). The co-conspirator, pretending to work for Carrier 1, and using the email account of Carrier 1, allegedly contacted and contracted with Shipper 1, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Jacksonville, Fla.
Forbes then allegedly arrived at the warehouse in Worcester pretending to work for Carrier 1, loaded the seafood into his truck and drove off.
Surveillance footage from inside and outside of Storage Business 1 captured images of Forbes
Instead of delivering the seafood to the customer in Florida, Forbes allegedly transported it to the location of a grocery store business in Queens, N.Y., where Forbes took a picture of the pallets of packaged crabs with his cellphone.
Before the alleged seafood heist, Forbes, on June 25, 2025, allegedly stole a shipment of blueberries in Winslow Junction, N.J. A co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of Carrier 2, a trucking carrier company, and, pretending to be Carrier 2, contacted and contracted with Shipper 2, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Illinois. Forbes then allegedly arrived at the warehouse that was holding the goods, and, pretending to work for Carrier 2, loaded the fruit into his truck and drove away.
Instead of delivering the blueberries to the customer in Illinois, Forbes allegedly arranged to illicitly sell the fruit to his phone contact named, “My customer for everything.”
Authorities say after the seafood and blueberry thefts, on July 25, 2025, Forbes allegedly conspired to steal approximately $433,830 worth of cologne in Ronkonkama, N.Y. Again, a co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of Carrier 3, a trucking carrier company, and, pretending to be Carrier 3, contracted with Shipper 3, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Los Angeles, Calif. Forbes then allegedly arrived to the warehouse that was holding the goods, and, pretending to work for Carrier 3, loaded the items into his truck and drove away.
Instead of delivering the fragrances to the customer in California, Forbes allegedly contacted his “customer for everything” offering to sell the cologne and sent the contact a video of the cologne, to which the contact replied, “Ok.”
Forbes is facing a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison for the interstate transportation of stolen goodsc charge which also could include three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit that offense carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
