Authorities said a man was caught shoplifting a $995 sweater from the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Town Center at Boca Raton.

BOCA RATON — Shoplifting a sweater in July might have been the giveaway. Before police were done, they allege, they had come across a sophisticated steal-and-return operation, as well as devices used to turn ATMs into ITMs — identify theft machines.

Arthur Shamilevich Gerbekov, 22, was arrested Tuesday at Town Center at Boca Raton. He was booked early Wednesday at the Palm Beach County Jail and left Wednesday night after posting a $1,000 bond. He is charged with grand theft of between $750 and $20,000.

The police report said Gerbekov, a native of Moscow, lives in Sunny Isles Beach. The coastal community about 10 miles north of Miami Beach is known as "Little Moscow" for its high percentage of Russian-speaking residents.

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According to a Boca Raton police report, on Tuesday afternoon, two loss-prevention officers at Saks Fifth Avenue told police they watched on security monitors as Gerbekov, accompanied by a man and woman, neatly folded a dark blue Ralph Lauren sweater, valued at $995, and shoved it down his pants under his sweatshirt.

The supervisors said they saw the second man place a black Burberry hat worth $320 and a pair of black Burberry shorts worth $450 into a white shopping bag from a Lululemon clothing store. The three people then walked out. One store officer nabbed Gerbekov, but the woman and the second man got away, the report said.

After watching the store video, a Boca Raton officer questioned Gerbekov, who gave permission for police to search his Jeep Grand Cherokee in the mall parking lot. There officers found shopping bags containing numerous items, as well as marijuana and a grinder and an air pistol.

Gerbekov said he stole the sweater because he'd wanted to give his brother a nice birthday present but didn't have the money for it. But the store officers told police Gerbekov was in the store's database as being part of a ring of shoplifters who frequently target Saks stores. They alleged thieves steal an item from one Saks store, then exchange it for a more expensive item and pay the difference with a credit card. They then return the more expensive item at yet another store, and get a full refund on a credit card.

Also in the SUV: a cardboard box containing several electronic items that appeared to be "shimmers." These devices attach to the outside of an ATM. When unknowing customers insert cards into them, they transmit data through Wi-Fi to the thieves.

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"I took the sweater," Gerbekov admitted Thursday to The Palm Beach Post. He insisted he was not part of a shoplifting ring and that the SUV belonged to the second man and that he did not know the devices were in it.

Gerbekov also said he'd moved from Russia about three years ago and works for a moving company.

The report does not provide ages or addressees for the second man and the woman. The Palm Beach Post is not naming them because it does not appear they have been charged in the incident. Neither shows up in court dockets in either Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade counties.

The report said U.S. Secret Service agents will investigate the devices.

ek@pbpost.com.

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