Ovais Mayet, Wire Fraud, New Jersey 2021

State: New Jersey
Category: White Collar Crime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/somerset-county-man-admits-defrauding-former-employer-more-1-million" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A brazen scheme to defraud a former employer has landed a Somerset County man in hot water, with a guilty plea entered in federal court.

Ovais Mayet, 33, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference to one count of wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross amount of gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater.

According to documents filed in the case, Mayet was a biological engineer with a biopharmaceutical company located in Summit, New Jersey. He was permitted to use the employer’s business account to make authorized purchases of materials and equipment for work-related purposes. Instead, Mayet used the employer’s account to purchase substantial quantities of electronic devices, which he did not and would not use in the course of his employment.

Between January 2019 and March 2020, Mayet executed online purchase orders and disguised these purchases as business expenses, when, in fact, they were for his own personal gain. Mayet resold the items on after-market websites and used the proceeds to pay for personal expenses. Mayet obtained nearly $1.1 million worth of electronic devices from the fraudulent scheme.

The wire fraud charge to which Mayet pleaded guilty is a serious offense, and the potential penalties are severe. The court will determine the final sentence at a hearing scheduled for June 7, 2021.

The case was investigated by the FBI, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Mateo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

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