Executives at one of Amazon’s biggest third-party sellers allegedly posted ads seeking a contract killer to target the boss of a US warehouse operator as the companies feuded over millions of dollars in storage fees, The Post has learned.
The bizarre legal beef erupted last spring, when China-based DIY manufacturer Vevor saw $55 million in tools and other home-improvement merchandise locked up at Egreen Transport Corp’s warehouses across California, Georgia and New Jersey, according to court documents.
By the summer, the dispute over unpaid rent had escalated – with Egreen accusing Vevor of vandalizing its offices and an executive’s Tesla, hiring goons who impersonated cops and even making death threats against its owner, according to an October lawsuit in California state court that has since sparked a criminal probe in the US and China.
‘Enough money for a down payment on a home’
The conflict reached a boiling point ahead of the July 4 weekend, when a Vevor executive allegedly entered one of Egreen’s California warehouses and attempted to bribe an employee for private information about the owner of Egreen, a Los Angeles-based logistics firm that also had been shipping Vevor’s goods to retailers like Home Depot, according to court filings.
According to an Egreen source with direct knowledge of the incident, the Vevor executive offered “enough money for a down payment on a home.” A former Vevor employee corroborated the account.
Days later, mysterious ads appeared on Facebook and other social media posting “contract killing threats against Egreen’s owner and his family,” according to Egreen’s complaint filed Oct. 24 in California state court.
While law enforcement investigations remain active, the lawsuit on Feb. 17 was withdrawn without prejudice – meaning it can be refiled at a later date. Vevor was never served.
In a statement, Vevor’s parent company Hong Kong-based HK Sishun Trade Co. said: “We take these claims with the utmost seriousness. The suggestion of any involvement in a ‘contract killing’ is not only false but deeply irresponsible. We deny all accusations in the strongest terms.”
“Sishun will respond to any allegations that are properly made and properly served at the appropriate time in court,” the attorney, Alan Engle of Cross-Border Counselor LLP, said in an email. “It appears that most of the allegations you mention were made by Egreen in an unserved complaint and lack plausibility on their face.”
Amazon ‘unable to take action’
Amazon, led by CEO Andy Jassy, has seemingly turned a blind eye to the mounting complaints against Vevor – which, as The Post reported has been accused of selling defective tools on the site linked to deaths and injuries.
As the conflict escalated in July, Egreen’s attorney fired off a letter to Amazon detailing Vevor’s alleged threats and harassment identified in the lawsuit. One of Amazon’s in-house lawyers responded by requesting more information, including copies of police reports and alleged violations of Amazon’s policies.
Nevertheless, the Amazon lawyer said the company was “not in a position of a court or law enforcement agency” and “unable to take action at this time,” according to the letter which was shared with The Post by Egreen.
As exclusively reported by The Post, Vevor has faced recalls and multiple wrongful death and injury lawsuits linked to its products on Amazon. It has previously denied that its products are of inferior quality.
As of this month, Vevor — which has reportedly racked up more than $500 million in yearly sales on Amazon — remains active on the site and does not appear to have faced any disciplinary action from the e-commerce giant.
Amazon did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post about the dispute between Vevor and Egreen.
Cops probe ‘murder for hire’ claims
The explosive allegations have sparked a criminal investigation – by not only police in California but also law enforcement in Shanghai, The Post has learned.
“Shanghai is involved due to the murder for hire posts,” said Gerardo Medina, who was an investigator of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office handling the case until he was promoted to sergeant earlier last month.
Medina said that after securing a court order, he and other officers on Nov. 20 searched Vevor’s US headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Evidence gathered in the search led to “an investigative lead” for Shanghai’s law enforcement, Medina told The Post, adding that the Chinese officers have shared information with him and vice versa.
“The murder for hire posting appears to have been committed in China,” Medina said.
The police advised the executive at Egreen to hire private security guards to protect himself and his family, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.
The scary conflict is spilling into public view even as Vevor has launched a bricks and mortar push, opening up its first ever US store in Houston on Feb. 13, according to the company. In March, Vevor announced a sponsorship deal with the NBA’s Houston Rockets. The team did not respond to a query for comment.
Vevor’s new flagship, which bears bright orange signage similar to Home Depot’s, is focused on a buy online, pick up in store model, Vevor said in a press release.
In December, Vevor created a pop-up store in Times Square, where shoppers could trade in used tools for new ones for $9.90 a pop.
Vevor: Egreen ‘not a reliable partner’
Management at Egreen claimed last March it was owed $48 million in unpaid storage and legal fees as it sequestered Vevor’s inventory, according to the October lawsuit. It was alerted to the alleged ads on Facebook and on the Chinese social media platform Rednote, the employee said.
The alleged hit man ads included photos of a top Egreen executive and allegedly offered $200,000 for information including his home address and as much as $5 million to kill him or his son, according to multiple sources who saw the posts before they were taken down.
In a statement, Vevor denied the allegations, claiming Egreen was “not a reliable partner” and that the lawsuit “may be a deliberate attempt to damage our reputation in the context of an ongoing business disagreement.”
Vevor cast itself as the “victim” in the dispute, claiming that the Sheriff’s search warrant “stemmed from Egreen’s unwarranted interference with our normal business operations by withholding our inventories even though we have reached a Settlement Agreement with them under which millions of dollars have been paid by Sishun,” according to the statement.
“We will fully cooperate with law enforcement should an investigation be initiated, and we are prepared to take all necessary legal actions to protect our company’s integrity.”
‘Fake police vehicles’
Local police have responded to at least five emergency calls by Egreen officials, according to court filings. A number of police reports in California have been filed, the sheriff’s office confirmed, but they remain under seal.
Egreen claimed that Vevor used U-Haul trucks to block its warehouse gates, “dispatching fake police vehicles and individuals impersonating armed officers,” at its facilities east of Los Angeles and in Savannah, Ga., according to the complaint.
Egreen’s suit filed in San Bernardino County also accused Vevor employees of “vandalizing Egreen’s Los Angeles offices by shattering its glass door with a pellet gun,” according to court documents. The Post has reviewed alleged photos of the damage.
That was as Vevor filed for a restraining order in July in California federal court to get its inventory back. A judge denied the request on Aug. 1.
Vevor, for its part, has alleged that Egreen demanded “rate increases and additional payments” that Vevor and its parent HK Sishun Trade Co. did not agree to, according to a lawsuit Vevor filed against Egreen in March 2025 in the US Central District of California after its inventory had been confiscated.
Vevor acknowledged that its beef with Egreen has involved the police. In March, Vevor said it was “forced to hire security personnel to monitor EGreen’s warehouses and the status of Sishun’s property,” according to its federal lawsuit. “This has led to confrontation at least one warehouse location where police were called.”
This lawsuit was settled, but Egreen claimed Vevor did not comply with the repayment terms of their settlement and didn’t release Vevor’s merchandise from its warehouses. Egreen has since been selling Vevor’s inventory to make up for the fees it is owed, a former Vevor employee claimed.
Sources close to Egreen declined to comment on whether the company is liquidating Vevor’s merchandise. Egreen’s contract with Vevor allows it to do so, according to court filings.
The companies began working together in 2020 as Vevor was ramping up its business in the US. Egreen handled the lion’s share of Vevor’s US logistics, storing inventory and fulfilling online orders, and played a key role in its rise as a prominent seller on Amazon.
The relationship had soured by late 2024, with each side laying the blame on the other in court documents.
Egreen alleges that Vevor repeatedly pressured it to lease more warehouse space – first in Los Angeles and later in Savannah, Ga. and North Brunswick, NJ, while pledging levels of shipping volume that never materialized.
Signs of more trouble surfaced in January 2025, when Egreen was forced to pay a $580,000 fine to the US Department of Labor to settle allegations of unpaid wages, housing its Chinese workers in overcrowded apartments and coercing them into working 12-hour shifts.
Egreen blamed the violations on Vevor in court filings, alleging that the penalties occurred “as a direct result of the pressure” that Vevor imposed “to expedite deliveries” and that the impacted workers had “worked exclusively” on the Vevor account.
In a statement, Egreen claimed it has endured “reputational damage… despite acting in good faith, Egreen has been forced to bear the legal, public and operational consequences of a crisis caused by Vevor.”
Vevor was founded in 2007 by Shanghai-based Rubao Jiabo, who started out in the apparel industry, according to a report on Chinese sellers by Brands Factory.
