Former Takeda Employee Pleads Guilty To $2.3 Mln Embezzlement Scheme

(RTTNews) - A former senior level employee in the technology operations group of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited pleaded guilty to engaging in a scheme to defraud the company of at least $2.3 million, the District of Massachusetts' U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Priya Bhambi and an alleged co-conspirator, who did not work at the company, were charged in an indictment filed on March 23, 2023.

Between approximately January 2022 and October 2022, Bhambi and her alleged co-conspirator orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Takeda of at least $2.3 million in payments for purported consulting services by submitting fabricated invoices on behalf of a sham consulting company, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

According to the Attorney's Office, the co-conspirator, in coordination with Bhambi, allegedly incorporated Evoluzione Consulting LLC in February 2022. Later, Bhambi created a website for Evoluzione with false information, including fabricated blog posts, to make it appear that Evoluzione was a legitimate consulting business.

After incorporating Evoluzione, Bhambi, allegedly in coordination with the co-conspirator, submitted a statement of work to Takeda and caused Takeda to sign a master services agreement with Evoluzione and issue a purchase order to Evoluzione for consulting services with a total cost of $3.542 million. Then, between March and May of 2022, Bhambi and the alleged co-conspirator fabricated and submitted to Takeda five separate invoices for services that Evoluzione had not performed, each in the amount of $460,000. Bhambi and the alleged co-conspirator made false representations regarding the services purportedly provided by Evoluzione. Takeda paid all five of the invoices to business accounts allegedly opened by the alleged co-conspirator in the name of Evoluzione.

In total, Bhambi and the alleged co-conspirator defrauded Takeda of $2.3 million in payments to Evoluzione for services not provided. Bhambi and her alleged co-conspirator used the fraudulently obtained funds to purchase a Mercedes-Benz Model E; purchase a diamond engagement ring; make a down payment on a $1.875 million condominium in Boston's Seaport neighborhood; and place a deposit on a wedding venue, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In connection with the charges, the Court issued seizure warrants for the Mercedes, over $1 million in fraud proceeds from accounts the defendants controlled, $49,985 from the wedding venue deposit and issued a restraining order to preserve the Seaport condominium for forfeiture.