After fessing up to wire fraud charges, a former Takeda employee will be preparing for a sentencing hearing rather than walking down the aisle with $2.3 million garnered through a scheme to defraud the company with a fake consulting firm.
Priya Bhambi, a former "senior level employee in the technology operations group" at Takeda, and an alleged co-conspirator bilked the company out of $2.3 million by setting up a fake firm called Evoluzione Consulting and inked a $3.5 million "master services agreement" with Takeda, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts disclosed.
Bhambi and her alleged co-conspirator were able to get $2.3 million from Takeda with the company's payment of five invoices worth $460,000 each, authorities said.
With these funds, the two allegedly bought a diamond engagement ring, a $1.87 million condo, a Mercedes-Benz Model E and made a down payment on a wedding venue.
The scheme began in early 2022 when Bhambi incorporated the fake consulting firm called Evoluzione Consulting. Later, the ex-staffer created a website with fabricated blog posts.
When employees at Takeda questioned the invoices, Bhambi provided “false representations” about the nature of the fake services provided, according to authorities.
The fraud was laid out in text messages between the two scammers, an affidavit (PDF) by FBI special agent Brendon Donlan revealed.
In January of 2022, Bhambi texted her alleged fraudster, “I have put some wheels in motion to pursuit a small hustle, lol,” which would require the co-conspirator to “do some paperwork."
The two then created email addresses posing as made-up Evoluzione employees, which were contacted by Takeda staffers who became suspcious about the arrangement. Bhambi was fired from her position at Takeda around November 2022 following an internal investigation, the affidavit says.
The court seized the Mercedes, more than $1 million in fraud proceeds and $49,985 from the wedding venue deposit. Authorities are working to seize the condo.
Bhambi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. The charges hold a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years supervised release and a fine of up to twice the fraud gains.