Couple allegedly scam Cisco for $23 million

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 19 Oct 2009 at 09:18

The FBI have arrested a husband and wife team who are alleged to have scammed $23 million from Cisco.

The scheme revolved around Cisco's SMARTnet technical support program, which promises two-hour, four-hour and next-day delivery of replacement parts.

Mario Easevoli, 33, and Jennifer Leigh Harmon Easevoli, 28, allegedly took advantage of this program by registering dozens of fictitious companies with Cisco, which they then used to order replacement parts between 2003 and 2005.

These parts were delivered to UPS mailboxes in eight different US states, themselves registered under 21 fake company names. The parts were then sold to other companies, and the profits deposited in the bank account of fictional company called Synergy Communications Corp.

For those of you who knew me and doubted me - I made it, and I made it big. I am bigger and better than you thought I could be.

Court documents don't reveal how much the pair earned from the scam, though Harmon bragged on the social-networking site Classmates.com that "For those of you who knew me and doubted me - I made it, and I made it big.

"I am bigger and better than you thought I could be. I am more successful than I could have dreamed and I have had a great time all the while," she concluded.

The couple face charges on conspiracy to commit mail fraud, aiding and abetting mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a potential 20 years in prison, and fines totalling $750,000.