Federal prosecutors stated that a former food delivery driver, in collusion with others, participated in a scheme to defraud DoorDash of over $2.5 million by claiming reimbursement for deliveries that never took place.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri pleaded guilty on Tuesday in San Jose federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors allege that Devagiri, a 30-year-old resident of Newport Beach, California, conspired with three others to defraud a San Francisco-based delivery company in both 2020 and 2021.

According to prosecutors, Devagiri allegedly exploited customer accounts to place substantial orders, subsequently using employee credentials to infiltrate DoorDash's software and manually reassign these orders to driver accounts controlled by himself and his accomplices; furthermore, authorities contend that he manipulated DoorDash's computer system by inducing fictitious driver accounts to falsely report "completed" deliveries, thereby triggering payments for non-existent services.

Prosecutors allege that Devagiri subsequently exploited DoorDash's software by altering order statuses from "delivered" back to "in progress," thereby reactivating the fraudulent scheme through the manual reassignment of these orders to driver accounts controlled by himself and his accomplices.

Prosecutors revealed that a former employee involved in this fraud case pleaded guilty in November 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting to their participation in the scheme.

Devagiri, the third defendant convicted for his involvement in the conspiracy, faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine; he is scheduled to reappear in court on September 16th.