Barry Cummings, Mail Fraud, Kansas 2023

Barry Cummings, Mail Fraud, Kansas 2023

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Kansas man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for causing a $1.2 million loss to a company by submitting false invoices in connection a performance incentive rewards program.

According to court documents, Barry Cummings, 52, of Overland Park, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, a charge he admitted to orchestrating a years-long scheme to defraud the victim company's rewards program.

Cummings, who was hired by a business in Lenexa, Kansas, in 2017, enrolled in the victim company's rewards program through that affiliation. He used the rewards site to submit thousands of fraudulent sales claims, falsely representing that he had sold the company's products.

After his termination from the Lenexa business in April 2018, Cummings continued to log into the rewards website, submitting fraudulent invoices and redeeming points using the email he previously had at the Lenexa business. He even submitted 834 fraudulent invoices for which he received more than 2.8 million points during a 12-hour period in November 2018.

In 2019, Cummings submitted 5,543 false claims for 22.5 million points, using point redemptions to receive more than 2,000 rewards at a value that caused a $1,233,024 loss to the victim company.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the case, and the victim energy company cooperated and provided invaluable assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Huschka prosecuted the case.

Cummings will serve 15 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release and will be required to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/pr/overland-park-man-sentenced-abusing-incentive-rewards-program