Former Amazon employee sentenced to 16 years in prison in $9.4 million fraud case
Prosecutors said Wortham stole millions over her 1.5-year tenure at Amazon as part of a scheme
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A federal district court on Wednesday sentenced a former Amazon employee to 16 years in prison for a multimillion-dollar fraud against the tech giant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
The sentencing of the ex-Amazon operations manager, Kayricka Wortham of Georgia, came roughly seven months after she entered a guilty plea to conspiring to commit wire fraud.
She led a multi-person scheme to defraud the tech company and steal over $9.4 million during her 1½ years with Amazon, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Wortham and one of her alleged co-conspirators, Brittany Hudson, were in a relationship. They allegedly used money they stole to buy "expensive real estate and luxury cars, including a nearly $1 million home in Smyrna, Georgia; a 2019 Lamborghini Urus; a 2021 Dodge Durango; a 2022 Tesla Model X; a 2018 Porsche Panamera; and a Kawasaki ZX636 motorcycle," according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
FORMER APPLE EMPLOYEE ORDERED TO SERVE JAIL TIME, PAY RESTITUTION FOR FLEECING THE COMPANY
An Amazon warehouse in Rialto, Calif., March 18, 2023. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Prosecutors claimed Wortham and others involved stole the money by "submitt[ing] fictitious invoices to Amazon, falsely representing that the vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon." They were able to do so after unwitting workers under Wortham’s supervision added them to the system with fraudulent information she gave them and subsequently approved, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
FOX Business reached out to Amazon for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
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Wortham has since turned over the home and vehicles she and Hudson allegedly purchased to authorities, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They forfeited $2.7 million from bank accounts.
Wortham was also ordered to repay about $9.47 million to Amazon.
The U.S. attorney’s office said she also faces additional outstanding charges related to an alleged attempt to defraud another company that involved "forging the signature of a federal judge and seal of the court." Those alleged crimes happened while she was out on bond and trying to mislead a "franchising company about the status of her criminal charges," U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a statement.
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On top of her 16 years of prison time, Wortham will have to serve three years probation after she's released.
Judge's gavel (iStock / iStock)
"This individual stole millions from a business that employed her, exploiting not only their trust, but our nation's financial systems," U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel said in a statement. "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."
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Hudson and two others have pending cases, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Three others have pleaded guilty but have not been sentenced.