An SAP executive is reported to have been charged with stealing LEGO from shops using the assistance of home-made bar codes before allegedly selling the kits online.

Thomas Langenbach, 47, is said to have swapped the shop bar codes on expensive LEGO kits for his own homemade versions at a number of shops belonging to discount chain Target in the San Francisco area. The district attorney said he bought kits at "huge discounts" by swapping the tags then sold them on eBay at their regular price.

NBC Bay Area reports that Langenbach has been charged with buying a $279 box of Millennium Falcon LEGO for $49, and buying a $90 Anakin LEGO set for about $35.

According to NBC:

When police searched his home, however, [supervising deputy District Attorney Cindy] Hendrickson said they found "hundreds and hundreds" of LEGO boxes inside. They also discovered that since last April, he had allegedly sold 2,100 LEGO items totaling about $30,000 on eBay using the handle "tomsbrickyard". Inside Langenbach's car, Hendrickson said, were 32 pre-made barcode stickers.

According to LinkedIn, Langenbach is vice president at Palo Alto's SAP Labs Integration and Certification Center.

Langenbach has been charged with four counts of burglary totalling seven boxes of LEGO worth about $1,000 and was released on $10,000 bail.

This is not the first time people have tried to cheat the law to get their hands on the sacred bricks according to BoingBoing here and here. Star Wars seems to be a particularly tempting target. ®