Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Baldwin man was indicted in an alleged retail theft operation that employed several individuals to steal merchandise from Home Depot stores in Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens and Brooklyn between October 2021 and December 2023. Search warrants executed on the defendant’s home recovered nearly $40,000 in allegedly stolen merchandise.
Manooj Heeralall, 55, was arraigned today before Judge Howard Sturim on grand jury indictment charges of Burglary in the Third Degree (a D felony); Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree (a D felony); Attempted Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree (an E felony); Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree (an E felony); Attempted Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree (an A misdemeanor); and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree (an A misdemeanor).
The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court April 7, 2025. If convicted, Heeralall faces up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.
“This defendant was the alleged architect of a retail theft scheme targeting Home Depot stores across Long Island and in parts of New York City, in which nearly $40,000 worth of items were stolen and later shipped to Guyana to be sold for a profit,” said DA Donnelly. “My office, with our partners at the Nassau County Police Department, will take down these retail theft rings and hold thieves accountable for their criminal actions.”
“There is no place for retail crime in Nassau County,” said Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. “These criminals targeting businesses and hard-working people will always be pursued and we are proud of our partnership with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and Organized Retail Crime Task Force for bringing them to justice.”
DA Donnelly said that, according to the investigation, between March and December 2023, the defendant allegedly employed individuals to steal items like circuit breakers, light switches, and other equipment from dozens of Home Depot locations in Nassau County, including Freeport, Levittown, Syosset, and Westbury, as well as stores located in Suffolk County, Queens and Brooklyn.
Heeralall would meet the individuals later to pick up the alleged stolen merchandise and provide payment. The defendant then allegedly stored the merchandise in his home and garage.
Search warrants executed on Heeralall’s home on December 7, 2023, seized nearly 1,000 circuit breakers, valued at $15,025, from inside the home and hundreds of pieces of equipment, including circular saw blades, outlets and more circuit breakers from inside the defendant’s garage.
Four garbage bins were also found in the garage, containing $9,576 worth of acrylic roof coating, rock spotlights, oscillating blades for grout, and light switch wall plates.
The total value of the items seized was approximately $37,151.
NCDA thanks The Home Depot Investigations Organized Retail Crime Northern Division for its cooperation and assistance in this investigation.
Heeralall was arrested on December 7, 2023, by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s District Attorney Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kaitlyn Wells of the Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Jeremy Glicksman and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. The defendant is represented by Raymond Baierlein, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.