Former Amazon Security Manager Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A security manager at Amazon pleaded guilty to defrauding the company on Thursday. According to the government, he had been responsible for preventing loss, monitoring security risks, and protecting people, products, and information at Amazon facilities in Georgia.

He and his co-conspirator, who worked as an Operations Manager at an Amazon warehouse in Smyrna, Georgia, both pleaded guilty to defrauding Amazon and stealing nearly $10 million from the company.

The government said the now former Operations Manager, who had the authority to approve new vendors and the payment of vendor invoices, was the leader of the scheme and said she provided fake vendor information to unknowing subordinates and asked them to input the information into Amazon’s vendor system.

The government said she approved the fake vendors and then submitted fictitious invoices that falsely represented that the fake vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. After approving the invoices, the payments allegedly went to bank accounts controlled by the co-conspirators.

US Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said, “This staggering fraud was fueled by pure greed, as evidenced by the high-end real estate, luxury cars, and expensive jewelry that the defendants quickly accumulated with their fraudulent proceeds.”

The former security and loss-prevention manager, who appears to have obtained a degree in criminal justice, will forfeit over $600,000 in fraudulent proceeds seized from multiple bank accounts and a 2022 Suzuki GSX1300 Motorcycle, a 2013 Ford Shelby Mustang, a 2021 Ford F-150 Black Widow, a Rolex Day-Date watch, a diamond bracelet, and a diamond necklace, all of which were purchased with fraudulent proceeds, the government stated in its press release.

The operator of an Amazon delivery service contractor was also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The government said the third defendant, whose case is pending, conspired to “submit fictitious invoices for fake vendors as part of the scheme.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.