A relatively common method of employee theft that individuals use to conceal their schemes is the creation of either false companies or false invoices.
The fraudsters then set these accounts up to divert company funds directly to themselves while, to the employer, the invoice payments appear to be legitimate. This is especially true for companies that offer services such as deliveries of merchandise or, in the case of this article, auto-repair shops.
In 2016, Mr. Sajju Khatiwada was hired by a Bridgestone in Franklin, Tennessee. He began working as Bridgestone’s assistant treasurer, capital planning and funding, and eventually was responsible for managing the relationships with banks that provided credit card processing services at each of the retail Bridgestone locations across the United States. Mr. Khatiwada was responsible for initiating payments for bank fees and credit card processing fees.
Using this access, Mr. Khatiwada allegedly created a false vendor called Paymt-Tech, LLC and began submitting fraudulent invoices to Bridgestone for bank fees “owed” to Paymt-Tech. On a monthly basis Mr. Khatiwada allegedly created fake invoices and initiated payments to Paymt-Tech, LLC for monthly bank fees. Bridgestone would approve payment of these invoices, believing they were true bank fees for a legitimate vendor.
Shortly after Mr. Khatiwada’s departure from the company, Bridgestone’s accounting department personnel noticed a significant decrease in monthly bank fees for Bridgestone. This led to an investigation which uncovered that between August 2020 and April 2024 there were 47 false invoices to Bridgestone for a total amount of $14,923,978.57.
This is just one of many examples of the methods of concealment that can be used and why preventative measures against fraud are important.
Former Assistant Treasurer for Bridgestone Americas Arrested and Charged with a $15 Million Wire Fraud and Money Laundering Scheme. (2024b, November 12). https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/pr/former-assistant-treasurer-bridgestone-americas-arrested-and-charged-15-million-wire
Photo by Giovanni Spoletini
