Bhaskarray Barot, Defrauding Employer, New York 2022
Bhaskarray Barot, 32, of Queens, New York, was arrested on August 2022 for defrauding his former employer out of approximately $4.4 million in a fake invoice scheme.
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint, which was unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Barot engaged in a scheme to defraud his former employer (the “Company”) of approximately $4.4 million through fake invoices designed to resemble those received from legitimate vendors of the Company.
Barot used his position as a procurement manager at the Company to process the fraudulent invoices for payment. He often affixed the fake invoices to email messages that he, in some cases, sent in the names of employees of the Company’s real vendors so that it would appear as though the real vendors were seeking payment on the fake invoices.
The fake invoices stated that payment should be made to entities with names that often differed slightly from those of the real vendor companies. Barot then incorporated companies and opened bank accounts in the names of some of the entities listed for payment on the fake invoices so that he could collect the payments that the Company made on the fake invoices.
Barot repeated these fraudulent tactics with more than a dozen fictitious entities and caused payment to be made by the Company on approximately 40 fake invoices, totaling approximately $4.4 million.
Barot, 32, of Queens, New York, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge.
The case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Coyle is in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →