U.S. Secret Service
08/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/28/2024 08:23
Indictment Charges Hartford Man with Defrauding Amazon
The defendant showed a brazen disregard for the law and his co-workers by allegedly pilfering hundreds of electronic goods from his employer that were intended for an employee rewards program. While the perpetrator in this case struck with impunity on nearly 200 occasions, investigators from our New Haven office along with their law enforcement partners were even more tenacious in their work. I want to commend all of them - as well as our partners at the U.S. Attorney's Office - for disrupting this one-person crime wave.
HARTFORD, CT -- Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patrick J. Freaney, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, New York Field Office, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned a four-count indictment charging TERRELL KIMBLE, 44, of Hartford, with offenses stemming from a scheme to defraud Amazon.
The indictment was returned on August 7, 2024. Kimble was arrested on August 15, 2024, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was released on a $250,000 bond.
The indictment alleges that Kimble was employed by Amazon as a Regional Fleet Specialist and an Area Manager, based in Connecticut. Amazon operated an employee reward program called Peak, administered through a procurement portal called Coupa. Coupa allowed certain employees, including Area Managers, to reward other employees on their work team for superior performance by ordering an item from Amazon for the employee at no cost. Between approximately July 2021 and December 2022, Kimble placed at least 196 Coupa orders fraudulently representing that they were to reward employee performance, but instead having the products, mainly high-end electronic goods, delivered to his mother's residence for his own use. The electronic items included Apple iPad Pro, Apple AirPods Pro, and Apple Watch devices, and Nintendo Switches.
The indictment charges Kimble with four counts of wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.
U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, with the assistance of the Windsor, West Hartford, and Hartford Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.