Man faces 31 felonies, records say

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The owner of a Las Vegas eyebrow threading business allegedly ran an online theft ring with sales of more than a million dollars, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.

Prymas Vaz, 59, faces 31 felonies, including participating in organized retail theft and buying, possessing or receiving stolen property, records said. Metro police arrested him Monday, March 11.

In 2022, investigators with several retailers contacted police about stolen goods appearing on eBay, the online auction website, documents said. The stores identified an eBay user, a woman whose name was redacted in court documents, as selling “just about anything” on the site.

The stores hit include Best Buy, CVS, Game Stop, Guitar Center, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Marshall’s, Nordstrom, Target, Walgreens and Walmart, among several others, documents said.

Police later learned the owner of eyebrow threading franchise Eyebrows R Us, identified as Vaz, was allegedly buying stolen property and selling the goods on eBay, documents said. Police had watched Vaz over several months, finding him purchase stolen property more than 30 times, they said.

Last December, officers searched Vaz’s home near Windmill Lane and Jones Boulevard in the southwest valley, as well as several Eyebrows R Us locations, finding more than $300,000 worth of stolen property, they said. Police also watched Vaz allegedly ship the stolen items from other businesses.

In an interview with police, Vaz “confessed to his knowledge of the stolen property as well as to the knowledge of how some of the people he was buying from were using stolen credit cards as well as making fraudulent receipts,” documents said. Vaz told police his involvement was “nothing other than greed.”

Police attempted several controlled sales as part of their investigation, but believed Vaz “seemed to be ‘spooked’” and refused to take any more of the seller’s calls, police said.

Officers believe Vaz made nearly 4,000 shipments via the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx from 2020 until late 2023, documents said.

In all, Vaz and the unnamed eBay account holder received nearly $1.1 million from eBay, Metro officers said from documents they obtained from the FBI. Officers also said one eBay account recorded more than $1.6 million in sales in 2023. It was unclear who was the owner of the latter account because it was redacted in court documents, however, police said the “stolen items located” were “consistent” with items found during their search of Vaz’s home and store locations.

In addition to Vaz, several people are accused of stealing the items and selling some at pawn shops.

Vaz posted a surety bond and was due to return to court on April 18. A defense attorney was not listed in his court docket.