Costa Mesa woman who allegedly stole $328K from retailers rearrested, pleads not guilty

A woman suspected of stealing $328,000 in designer merchandise from local retailers and attempting to sell it online appeared in court Tuesday, pleading not guilty to felony grand theft charges and responding to a failure to appear in another felony case.

Ekaterina Zharkova, 38, of Costa Mesa, was arrested on Nov. 23 by members of the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force, after an investigator witnessed her allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from a Nordstrom Rack in Costa Mesa, Orange County District Atty. Todd Spitzer announced Friday.

The cache from Zharkova’s activities were discovered after a search warrant was executed at her home in Costa Mesa and officers learned she’d been attempting to sell stolen merchandise through a luxury item online consignment store, according to the district attorney’s news release.

A search warrant of the Costa Mesa home and vehicle of Ekaterina Zharkova recovered numerous items stolen from area stores, CHP reported. Zharkova on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to multiple felony charges.

(Courtesy of California Highway Patrol)

Prosecutors described in a Dec. 12 criminal complaint how, between Oct. 7 and Nov. 23, Zharkova made repeated trips to the Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx stores in Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley and Tustin.

She allegedly walked into the locations and filled empty shopping bags with stolen merchandise, then left without paying. As a result, she faces five felony counts of grand theft and receiving, selling or concealing stolen goods and seven misdemeanor counts of petty theft under $950.

Zharkova was released from custody on Nov. 25, after posting $20,000 bail, with court dates pending not only for her most recent spree but also for a previous felony arrest on March 15 for grand theft and possession of burglary tools.

In that case, for which she entered a not guilty plea on Sept. 29 after charges were filed June 10, she was reported to have stolen merchandise valued at more than $950 and was found in possession of a tool used to remove store security tags.

Zharkova was scheduled to appear in court Friday for that crime, but when she failed to appear, a judge issued a warrant for her arrest and a criminal complaint was filed in the second, more recent matter.

D.A. spokeswoman Kimberly Edds confirmed Monday Zharkova was found and rearrested by CHP officers on Sunday, after the warrant was issued for her failure to appear, and on the new charge. In a Santa Ana courtroom Tuesday, she pleaded not guilty to the latter charge.

Orange County isn’t the only jurisdiction with charges against Zharkova. She was arrested and booked at Los Angeles County’s Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station on June 10 and faces at least one charge of felony grand theft in L.A. County. Court records indicate she had been scheduled to appear in a Pasadena courtroom on Wednesday in that matter.

Spitzer on Friday blamed California laws like Proposition 47, which reduce punishment for certain nonviolent offenses, for an increase in retail crimes.

The district attorney further said he’s assigned some of his most experienced investigators to work with the CHP task force and the sheriff’s department to “help protect Orange County businesses from victimization and consumers from increased costs.

“Shoplifting and other retail theft is out of control across California as a result of reckless laws that have made the risk far less than the potential reward,” he continued in Friday’s news release. “These are not victimless crimes, and if you engage in these kinds of outrageous theft schemes, we’re going to arrest you, we’re going to prosecute you, and we’re putting you behind bars.”

Zharkova, who retained the services of Glendale attorney Jilbert Tahmazian, is set to appear in Orange County Superior Court on Jan. 28 in a hearing related to both felony cases against her. Tahmazian could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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