Former Amazon Manager Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for $9.4 Million Fraud Scheme The former operations manager recruited others to help her, including an Amazon loss prevention employee and a senior human resources assistant.
Key Takeaways
- The scheme involved creating fake vendors and submitting fictitious invoices to Amazon.
- The woman and her girlfriend also went on a spending spree with the stolen money, buying a nearly $1 million home and several luxury cars.
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A former Amazon operations manager was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison on Wednesday for stealing nearly $10 million from the company.
While working as an operations manager from August 2020 to March 2022 at an Amazon warehouse in Smyrna, Georgia, Kayricka Wortham, 32, conceived and implemented an elaborate fraud scheme using fictitious invoices and vendors. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering on November 30, 2022 and pleaded guilty.
Wortham also recruited her girlfriend, Brittany Hudson, and coworkers, including an Amazon loss prevention employee and a senior human resources assistant, to help in the scam. Wortham and Hudson went on a spending spree, purchasing a nearly $1 million home and several luxury cars, including a Lamborghini, Porsche, and Tesla, with the stolen funds, according to officials.
How the Amazon Scam Worked
Wortham served as the scheme's "mastermind," officials said. She provided fake vendor information to unsuspecting Amazon employees and instructed them to enter it into the company's system — after which Wortham approved the fake vendors, making it possible for employees, unbeknownst to them, to submit fictitious invoices provided by Wortham and her co-conspirators.
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Additionally, the Amazon loss prevention worker and senior HR assistant involved in the scheme helped give Wortham names and Social Security numbers for fake vendor accounts.
Wortham and her co-conspirators then submitted fraudulent invoices to Amazon, falsely claiming that the vendors had provided goods and services to the company, resulting in Amazon transferring about $9.4 million in fraudulent proceeds to bank accounts controlled by Wortham and her co-conspirators.
More Crimes, More Charges
The scheming didn't stop with their arrests. While on bond, Wortham and Hudson attempted to open a hookah lounge in January with CRU Franchising Company. When CRU discovered the criminal charges against them, Wortham and Hudson lied, saying the charges had been dropped. To further support their conspiracy, the couple forged court documents with fake signatures. Hudson also allegedly doctored bank statements and financial documents, attempting to inflate their balances to further encourage the franchise deal.
Both women were indicted on charges of forging the signature of a federal judge and defrauding CRU. The charges remain pending for that case.
For the Amazon scheme, Wortham has been ordered to pay $9,469,731 in restitution to the company. She will also be subject to three years of supervised release after her 16-year prison term.
