PROVIDENCE, R.I. (NEWSnet/AP) — A Connecticut man received nearly $300,000 in fraudulent Home Depot credit by visiting stores in several states, taking expensive doors, then returning them without a receipt, federal prosecutors allege.

Alexandre Henrique Costa-Mota, 26, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was detained without bail after a judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf this week in federal court in Rhode Island. He is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

According to court documents, Costa-Mota dressed to appear as a contractor, entered stores, loaded doors, worth hundreds of dollars onto a lumber cart, then took them to the service department to return them without a receipt, authorities said.

He was given store credit in the form of cards that he redeemed at other stores, prosecutors said.

If a return was denied, he took the doors, without paying, and attempted to return them to another store, prosecutors said. Costa-Mota was given about 370 fraudulent store credits from June 2021 to February 2022, according to prosecutors.

The alleged scam involved stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Home Depot’s policy allows customers to return items without a receipt, but with safeguards to prevent consumer abuse or fraud.

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