Bolden Pleads Guilty to $30M Computer Fraud Scheme

Palmdale, CA resident Steven Alexander Bolden, 50, has pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Seattle to defrauding the ‘Computers for Learning’ program out of $30.3 million. The scheme involved using false identities to obtain computers from the government and selling them for personal gain. According to U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, Bolden faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for his actions.

Between 2007 and 2013, Bolden posed as 14 different non-profit organizations to acquire 19,442 items worth approximately $7.2 million. He failed to pay shipping costs, totaling over $100,000. Bolden also failed to report income from the sale of computers, which he sold for personal profit.

In one instance, records show Bolden used a legitimate non-profit’s information to create an account in the Computers for Learning program and obtained 41 Dell and HP computers that were then sold for his own benefit. The conviction for aggravated identity theft is based on Bolden’s use of the identities of both the non-profit organization and his acquaintance.

Records indicate Bolden failed to report income from the sale of computers, receiving more than $64,892 from a computer recycler in Santa Ana, CA, which he did not declare on his tax return. The amount of restitution due will be determined at sentencing.

The investigation was led by the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General (GSA-OIG), the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG), and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney David Reese Jennings is prosecuting the case.

Bolden will be sentenced on April 3, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez.