Federal prosecutors stated that a former food delivery driver admitted guilt to conspiring with accomplices to defraud DoorDash of over $2.5 million by inducing the company to reimburse fabricated deliveries.

Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri entered a guilty plea on Tuesday in San Jose's federal court to one count of conspiracy to perpetrate wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Devagiri, 30, from Newport Beach, California, has confessed to conspiring with three accomplices between 2020 and 2021 to swindle the San Francisco-based delivery firm, according to federal prosecutors.

According to prosecutors, Devagiri exploited customer accounts to initiate substantial orders, subsequently utilizing an employee's credentials to infiltrate DoorDash's software. He then illicitly reassigned these orders to driver accounts under his and his accomplices' control. Officials stated that Devagiri subsequently misrepresented the status of these orders, falsely indicating their delivery, and manipulated DoorDash's systems to disburse payments to these fraudulent accounts for deliveries that never occurred.

Devagiri allegedly exploited DoorDash's software by altering completed orders back to "in process" and reassigning them to accomplice-controlled driver accounts, thereby restarting the fraudulent cycle, according to prosecutors.

The disgraced former employee implicated in the scam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, prosecutors stated, confessing to active participation in the illicit scheme.

Devagiri, the third defendant found guilty for his involvement in the conspiracy, now faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years' imprisonment alongside a $250,000 fine, and is due back in court on September 16th.