Federal prosecutors stated that a former food delivery driver admitted to working with others to defraud DoorDash of over $2.5 million by falsely claiming payment for deliveries that never happened.

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

Devagiri, de 30 años y procedente de Newport Beach, California, reconoció haber colaborado con otras tres personas entre 2020 y 2021 para estafar a la empresa de reparto con sede en San Francisco, según informaron los fiscales federales.

Prosecutors stated that Devagiri used customer accounts to place large orders. He then used an employee's login details to access DoorDash's system and reassign these orders to delivery accounts controlled by him and others. Officials added that Devagiri had these fake delivery accounts marked as delivered, even though they weren't. He also manipulated DoorDash's computer systems to pay these accounts for deliveries that never happened.

According to prosecutors, Devagiri then used DoorDash's software to switch orders from "delivered" back to "in progress." He would then manually reassign these orders to delivery driver accounts controlled by him and others, effectively restarting the delivery process.

Prosecutors reported that the former employee involved in the scam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, admitting his part in the scheme.

Devagiri, the third person convicted for their involvement in the conspiracy, faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to appear in court again on September 16th.