Latest news with #Devagiri
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Time of India
Indian-origin man in California pleads guilty to scamming DoorDash of $2.5M
An Indian-origin man scammed DoorDash by creating fake food orders. 30-year-old Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri , a Southern Californian man of Indian-origin, has pleaded guilty for conspiring to steal around $2.5 million from food delivery company DoorDash. Devagiri and three others were indicted by a federal jury in August and were arrested in October, Federal prosecutors said, earlier this week, that Devagiri has pleaded guilty. Devagiri faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to appear for a status hearing in the case on September 16. How did Devagiri scam DoorDash? Between 2020 and 2021, Devagiri and three others scammed the delivery company. Devagiri used to work as a DoorDash delivery driver. He devised this method, where he used customer accounts to place high-value orders on the app. Then he used an employee's credentials to access DoorDash software and manually reassign the orders to driver accounts that he and his co-conspirators controlled. Then, the fraudulent driver accounts that were in their control reported that the orders were delivered. In reality, those orders were not delivered because those orders were not even real. Then Devagiri used the software to pay the fraudulent drivers for those non-existent deliveries. Then Devagiri used the software to change the orders from "delivered" status to "in process". "This procedure usually took less than five minutes, and was repeated hundreds of times for many of the orders," the US Attorney's Office said in a statement. Co-defendant Manaswi Mandadapu pled guilty to the same charge on May 6. A third defendant, Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn of Solano County, pled guilty in 2023 after being separately charged in the case.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California man admits to scamming DoorDash out of $2.5 million using fake deliveries
A former delivery driver has pleaded guilty to conspiring with several others to steal over $2.5 million from DoorDash, a San Francisco-based food delivery company, federal prosecutors said. Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty on May 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. Prosecutors said Devagiri admitted to working with three others and a former employee of DoorDash in a fraud scheme that targeted the company between 2020 and 2021. In the scheme, the group caused DoorDash to pay for deliveries that never occurred, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in more than $2.5 million in fraudulent payments. Devagiri was arrested and indicted alongside Manaswi Mandadapu, 29; Matheus Duarte, 29; and Hari Vamsi Anne, 30, in October 2024, according to prosecutors. All four were charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Mandadapu pleaded guilty to the charge on May 6, prosecutors said. Duarte and Anne previously pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court on July 22, The Los Angeles Times reported. The former DoorDash employee involved in the scheme, Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn, was charged in a separate indictment in September 2022 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, according to prosecutors. Devagiri is expected to appear in court for a status hearing on September 16, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 'Fundamentally unfair': DoorDash to pay millions to dashers after company pocketed tips DoorDash provides food delivery services to customers who place orders on the platform. Drivers who work for the company fulfill those orders by picking up ordered items from restaurants and other merchants and delivering them to customers. According to an indictment unsealed in October 2024, the group worked together between November 2020 to February 2021. During that period, Devagiri, along with Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, created multiple fraudulent customer and driver accounts with DoorDash, the indictment states. The group used the fraudulent customer accounts to place "high value" orders from restaurants across Northern California, including Santa Clara County, according to the indictment. They then utilized an employee's credentials to access DoorDash's computer systems and software. The indictment further alleged that the group used the computer systems to manually reassign DoorDash orders placed by their fraudulent customer accounts to their driver accounts. Prosecutors said Devagiri then would report the orders had been delivered on the driver accounts when they had not and manipulated the software to prompt DoorDash to pay the driver accounts for the deliveries that never occurred. 'Senseless act of violence': DoorDash driver shot after arriving at wrong house; NY highway official arrested Devagiri also used the DoorDash software to change the orders from 'complete' statuses to 'in process' statuses and reassigned the orders to driver accounts that the group controlled, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Devagiri repeated this process, which took less than five minutes, hundreds of times for many orders. In total, the group stole over $2.5 million and received payments through bank accounts controlled by Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, the indictment states. According to the indictment, the group gained access to the software by using credentials that belonged to Bottenhorn, who was a resident of Solano County, California. He briefly worked for DoorDash in 2020. After pleading guilty in 2023, prosecutors said Bottenhorn admitted to being involved in the scheme to defraud the company. Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne were all arrested on Oct. 4, 2024, prosecutors said. Devagiri and Mandadapu were taken into custody in Newport Beach and later released on bond. Duarte was arrested in Mountain House, California, and was also released on bond. Anne was arrested in Cypress, Texas, and was detained in Houston pending further proceedings, according to prosecutors. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California man pleads guilty to stealing more than $2.5M from DoorDash
The Star
15-05-2025
- The Star
DoorDash delivery driver pleads guilty to stealing US$2.5mil in deliveries scam
Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, admitted to working with three others in 2020 and 2021 to defraud the San Francisco-based delivery company, federal prosecutors said. — AP SAN FRANCISCO: A former food delivery driver pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to steal more than US$2.5mil (RM10.72mil) from DoorDash by getting the company to pay for deliveries that never occurred, US federal prosecutors said. Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in San Jose to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the US Attorney's Office said. Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, admitted to working with three others in 2020 and 2021 to defraud the San Francisco-based delivery company, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Devagiri used customer accounts to place high-value orders and then used an employee's credential to gain access to DoorDash software and manually reassign the orders to driver accounts that he and others controlled. Devagiri then caused the fraudulent driver accounts to report that the orders had been delivered when they had not, and manipulated DoorDash's computer systems to pay the fraudulent driver accounts for the nonexistent deliveries, officials said. Devagiri would then use DoorDash software to change the orders from "delivered' status to "in process' status and manually reassign the orders to driver accounts he and others controlled, beginning the process again, prosecutors said. The now-former employee in the scam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023 and admitted to being involved in the scheme, prosecutors said. Devagiri is the third defendant to be convicted of his role in this conspiracy. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of US$250,000 (RM1.07mil). He is scheduled to return to court on Sept 16. – AP
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
California man admits to scamming DoorDash out of $2.5 million using fake deliveries
California man admits to scamming DoorDash out of $2.5 million using fake deliveries Show Caption Hide Caption Expert take: Does buy now, pay later help or hurt your finances? Priya Malani, CEO of Stash Wealth, and Paula Pant, host of the Afford Anything podcast talk buy now, pay later. A former delivery driver has pleaded guilty to conspiring with several others to steal over $2.5 million from DoorDash, a San Francisco-based food delivery company, federal prosecutors said. Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty on May 13 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. Prosecutors said Devagiri admitted to working with three others and a former employee of DoorDash in a fraud scheme that targeted the company between 2020 and 2021. In the scheme, the group caused DoorDash to pay for deliveries that never occurred, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in more than $2.5 million in fraudulent payments. Devagiri was arrested and indicted alongside Manaswi Mandadapu, 29; Matheus Duarte, 29; and Hari Vamsi Anne, 30, in October 2024, according to prosecutors. All four were charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Mandadapu pleaded guilty to the charge on May 6, prosecutors said. Duarte and Anne previously pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court on July 22, The Los Angeles Times reported. The former DoorDash employee involved in the scheme, Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn, was charged in a separate indictment in September 2022 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, according to prosecutors. Devagiri is expected to appear in court for a status hearing on September 16, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 'Fundamentally unfair': DoorDash to pay millions to dashers after company pocketed tips Fraudulent accounts, manipulated DoorDash software DoorDash provides food delivery services to customers who place orders on the platform. Drivers who work for the company fulfill those orders by picking up ordered items from restaurants and other merchants and delivering them to customers. According to an indictment unsealed in October 2024, the group worked together between November 2020 to February 2021. During that period, Devagiri, along with Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, created multiple fraudulent customer and driver accounts with DoorDash, the indictment states. The group used the fraudulent customer accounts to place "high value" orders from restaurants across Northern California, including Santa Clara County, according to the indictment. They then utilized an employee's credentials to access DoorDash's computer systems and software. The indictment further alleged that the group used the computer systems to manually reassign DoorDash orders placed by their fraudulent customer accounts to their driver accounts. Prosecutors said Devagiri then would report the orders had been delivered on the driver accounts when they had not and manipulated the software to prompt DoorDash to pay the driver accounts for the deliveries that never occurred. 'Senseless act of violence': DoorDash driver shot after arriving at wrong house; NY highway official arrested Devagiri also used the DoorDash software to change the orders from 'complete' statuses to 'in process' statuses and reassigned the orders to driver accounts that the group controlled, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Devagiri repeated this process, which took less than five minutes, hundreds of times for many orders. In total, the group stole over $2.5 million and received payments through bank accounts controlled by Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne, the indictment states. According to the indictment, the group gained access to the software by using credentials that belonged to Bottenhorn, who was a resident of Solano County, California. He briefly worked for DoorDash in 2020. After pleading guilty in 2023, prosecutors said Bottenhorn admitted to being involved in the scheme to defraud the company. Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte, and Anne were all arrested on Oct. 4, 2024, prosecutors said. Devagiri and Mandadapu were taken into custody in Newport Beach and later released on bond. Duarte was arrested in Mountain House, California, and was also released on bond. Anne was arrested in Cypress, Texas, and was detained in Houston pending further proceedings, according to prosecutors.
14-05-2025
DoorDash delivery driver pleads guilty to stealing $2.5 million in deliveries scam
SAN FRANCISCO -- A former food delivery driver pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to steal more than $2.5 million from DoorDash by getting the company to pay for deliveries that never occurred, federal prosecutors said. Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in San Jose to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, admitted to working with three others in 2020 and 2021 to defraud the San Francisco-based delivery company, federal prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Devagiri used customer accounts to place high-value orders and then used an employee's credential to gain access to DoorDash software and manually reassign the orders to driver accounts that he and others controlled. Devagiri then caused the fraudulent driver accounts to report that the orders had been delivered when they had not, and manipulated DoorDash's computer systems to pay the fraudulent driver accounts for the nonexistent deliveries, officials said. Devagiri would then use DoorDash software to change the orders from 'delivered' status to 'in process' status and manually reassign the orders to driver accounts he and others controlled, beginning the process again, prosecutors said. The now-former employee in the scam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023 and admitted to being involved in the scheme, prosecutors said. Devagiri is the third defendant to be convicted of his role in this conspiracy. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 16.
