[US] Former Amazon manager receives 16 year prison sentence for fraud scheme

In the US, the mastermind behind a $10 million Amazon fraud scheme has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison, U.S. Department of Justice reports.

Kayricka Wortham received the sentence for stealing more than $9.4 million from Amazon.com while employed as a manager for the company. To date, seven individuals, including Ms Wortham, have been charged in connection with the scheme.

“The defendant abused her position of trust at Amazon to steal nearly $10 million from the company based on a brazen fraud scheme involving fake vendors and fictitious invoices,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said. 

“She then committed new crimes while on bond, even creating a fake dismissal document purporting to be from the court and that included the forged signature of the Chief U.S. District Judge, all for the purpose of misleading a franchising company about the status of her criminal charges.  Her prison sentence recognizes the magnitude of her fraud and serves to protect the integrity of our courts and justice system.”

“The Secret Service takes cases of fraud extremely seriously,” Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Atlanta Field Office Steven R. Baisel said. “This individual stole millions from a business that employed her – exploiting not only their trust but our nation’s financial systems. Thanks to the hard work of our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s office, her sentence reflects the seriousness of her crimes and sends a message that this kind of fraudulent activity will not be tolerated.”

Ms Wortham abused her position at Amazon to submit more than $10 million in fictitious invoices for fake vendors, causing Amazon to pay approximately $9.4 million to Wortham and her co-conspirators, according to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court.

Ms Wortham worked as an Operations Manager at Amazon from about August 2020 to March 2022. She was employed at the company’s warehouse in Smyrna, Georgia. In this role, Ms Wortham supervised others and had the authority to approve new vendors and the payment of vendor invoices.

Mr Hines was a Loss Prevention Multi-Site Lead at Amazon. He also worked at the Smyrna warehouse and at other company sites. In his role, he was responsible for preventing loss, monitoring security risks, and protecting people, products, and information at Amazon.

Ms Wortham was reportedly the leader of the scheme, she provided fake vendor information to unwitting subordinates and asked them to input the information into Amazon’s vendor system. When the information had been entered, Ms Wortham approved the fake vendors, enabling those vendor accounts to submit invoices to Amazon. 

Ms Wortham and her co-conspirators, including Mr Hines, subsequently submitted fictitious invoices for payment showing that the fake vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. The payments for these invoices were typically approved by Ms Wortham and were sent to bank accounts controlled by her and her co-conspirators.

In total, Ms Wortham and her co-conspirators reportedly received around $9.4 million from the scheme. They spent the proceeds of their fraud for their own benefit, on purchases including real estate, luxury cars and expensive jewellery.

Ms Wortham and Mr Hines pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Kayricka Wortham (32) from Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., to 16 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to Amazon in the amount of $9,469,731.45.  

More than $2.7 million in fraudulent proceeds were reportedly seized from multiple bank accounts, these together with the residence in Smyrna and the vehicles purchased with fraudulent proceeds were forfeited.  Ms Wortham was convicted of the Amazon fraud charges on November 30, 2022, after she pleaded guilty.  She has been indicted for defrauding CRU and forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court. Those charges remain pending.

On June 20, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Brittany Hudson (37) from Atlanta, Georgia, and Jamar L. James, Sr., (47) from Calera, Alabama, for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering and Mr Hudson for forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court.  

Darrel J. Burgo (32) from Lawrenceville, Georgia, was charged in the same indictment with conspiracy, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.  These charges are pending.

For roles in the scheme, on November 30, 2022, Demetrius Hines reportedly pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy; on June 27, 2023, Laquettia Blanchard pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy; and on June 27, 2023, JaQuan Frazier pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.  Judge Batten will sentence these three defendants at a later date.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

(Quotes via original reporting)

In the US, the mastermind behind a $10 million Amazon fraud scheme has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison, U.S. Department of Justice reports.

Kayricka Wortham received the sentence for stealing more than $9.4 million from Amazon.com while employed as a manager for the company. To date, seven individuals, including Ms Wortham, have been charged in connection with the scheme.

“The defendant abused her position of trust at Amazon to steal nearly $10 million from the company based on a brazen fraud scheme involving fake vendors and fictitious invoices,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said. 

“She then committed new crimes while on bond, even creating a fake dismissal document purporting to be from the court and that included the forged signature of the Chief U.S. District Judge, all for the purpose of misleading a franchising company about the status of her criminal charges.  Her prison sentence recognizes the magnitude of her fraud and serves to protect the integrity of our courts and justice system.”

“The Secret Service takes cases of fraud extremely seriously,” Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Atlanta Field Office Steven R. Baisel said. “This individual stole millions from a business that employed her – exploiting not only their trust but our nation’s financial systems. Thanks to the hard work of our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s office, her sentence reflects the seriousness of her crimes and sends a message that this kind of fraudulent activity will not be tolerated.”

Ms Wortham abused her position at Amazon to submit more than $10 million in fictitious invoices for fake vendors, causing Amazon to pay approximately $9.4 million to Wortham and her co-conspirators, according to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court.

Ms Wortham worked as an Operations Manager at Amazon from about August 2020 to March 2022. She was employed at the company’s warehouse in Smyrna, Georgia. In this role, Ms Wortham supervised others and had the authority to approve new vendors and the payment of vendor invoices.

Mr Hines was a Loss Prevention Multi-Site Lead at Amazon. He also worked at the Smyrna warehouse and at other company sites. In his role, he was responsible for preventing loss, monitoring security risks, and protecting people, products, and information at Amazon.

Ms Wortham was reportedly the leader of the scheme, she provided fake vendor information to unwitting subordinates and asked them to input the information into Amazon’s vendor system. When the information had been entered, Ms Wortham approved the fake vendors, enabling those vendor accounts to submit invoices to Amazon. 

Ms Wortham and her co-conspirators, including Mr Hines, subsequently submitted fictitious invoices for payment showing that the fake vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. The payments for these invoices were typically approved by Ms Wortham and were sent to bank accounts controlled by her and her co-conspirators.

In total, Ms Wortham and her co-conspirators reportedly received around $9.4 million from the scheme. They spent the proceeds of their fraud for their own benefit, on purchases including real estate, luxury cars and expensive jewellery.

Ms Wortham and Mr Hines pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. 

Kayricka Wortham (32) from Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., to 16 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution to Amazon in the amount of $9,469,731.45.  

More than $2.7 million in fraudulent proceeds were reportedly seized from multiple bank accounts, these together with the residence in Smyrna and the vehicles purchased with fraudulent proceeds were forfeited.  Ms Wortham was convicted of the Amazon fraud charges on November 30, 2022, after she pleaded guilty.  She has been indicted for defrauding CRU and forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court. Those charges remain pending.

On June 20, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Brittany Hudson (37) from Atlanta, Georgia, and Jamar L. James, Sr., (47) from Calera, Alabama, for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering and Mr Hudson for forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the Court.  

Darrel J. Burgo (32) from Lawrenceville, Georgia, was charged in the same indictment with conspiracy, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.  These charges are pending.

For roles in the scheme, on November 30, 2022, Demetrius Hines reportedly pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy; on June 27, 2023, Laquettia Blanchard pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy; and on June 27, 2023, JaQuan Frazier pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.  Judge Batten will sentence these three defendants at a later date.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

(Quotes via original reporting)