Two former Amazon employees have pleaded guilty to defrauding Amazon of nearly $10 million during their time with the company.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said Kayricka Wortham of Atlanta and Demetrius Hines of Smyrna used their positions at the company to submit fake invoices for fake vendors, causing Amazon to pay approximately $9.4 million to the pair and their co-conspirators.

From about August 2020 to March 2022, Wortham worked as an operations manager at Amazon’s warehouse in Smyrna. She supervised others and approved new vendors and the payment of vendor invoices.

Hines was a loss prevention multi-site lead at the Smyrna warehouse and at other company sites. In his position, Hines was responsible for preventing loss, monitoring security risks, and protecting people, products and information at Amazon.

According to the release, Wortham was the leader of the scheme.

Prosecutors said she provided fake vendor information to unknowing subordinates and asked them to input the information into Amazon’s vendor system. Once the information was entered, Wortham approved the fake vendors, which allowed those vendor accounts to submit invoices to Amazon.

Wortham and her co-conspirators then submitted fake invoices for payment. These invoices falsely represented that the fake vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon. The payments for these invoices, typically approved by Wortham, went to bank accounts controlled by Wortham and her co-conspirators.

“The defendants abused their trusted positions to steal nearly $10 million from the company over the course of just a few months,” said Buchanan. “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.”

“These defendants attempted to hide their scheme in plain sight by using their unique roles within their company to conceal the actions from which they fraudulently benefitted,” said U.S. Secret Service Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel.

Officials say Wortham recruited other people to act as vendor contacts for the fake vendors entered into Amazon’s system.

She recruited Hines into the scheme and asked him to supply individuals’ information that could be used as fake vendor contacts.

In total, Wortham and her co-conspirators received about $9.4 million from the scheme, according to the release.

Officials say they used the proceeds to purchase real estate, luxury cars, and expensive jewelry.

As part of her sentencing, Wortham, 31, of Atlanta, Georgia, will forfeit more than $2.7 million in fraudulent proceeds seized from multiple bank accounts, a home in Smyrna that was purchased for more than $900,000, and a 2019 Lamborghini Urus, a 2021 Dodge Durango, a 2022 Tesla Model X, a 2018 Porsche Panamera, and a Kawasaki ZX636 motorcycle, all of which were purchased with fraudulent proceeds.

Hines, 35, will forfeit more than $600,000 in fraudulent proceeds seized from multiple bank accounts and a 2022 Suzuki motorcycle, a 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby, a 2021 Ford F-150 Black Widow, a Rolex watch, a diamond bracelet, and a diamond necklace, all of which were purchased with fraudulent proceeds.

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

Brittany Hudson, 37, of Atlanta, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the release, Hudson was in a relationship with Wortham and owned a business, Legend Express LLC, which contracted with Amazon to deliver packages to customers.

Hudson allegedly conspired with Wortham to submit fictitious invoices for fake vendors as part of the scheme. Her case is pending.

Wortham and Hines are expected to be sentenced in March 2023.

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