California man Jarrelle Augustine orchestrated a $34,000 Lego refund scam by replacing Lego pieces with uncooked pasta in Target store purchases, police confirmed. The scheme involved swapping minifigures and components in high-value sets like the Star Wars Venator-Class Attack Cruiser ($79.99) and Marvel Avengers Tower ($499.99) with Goya elbow pasta, then returning them for full refunds. Authorities recovered 12 Lego kits and Goya pasta bags during the investigation, highlighting the unprecedented creativity of the fraud. Target, which reported 70+ thefts linked to Augustine, declined to comment.

The case underscores rising Lego theft trends driven by resale value, with some rare sets fetching over $15,000 on secondary markets.