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

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

Devagiri, 30, residing in Newport Beach, California, confessed to conspiring with three accomplices throughout 2020 and 2021 to defraud a 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 internal system. He then illicitly reassigned these orders to a network of driver accounts under his and his accomplices' control. Officials stated that Devagiri then fraudulently reported these phantom deliveries, manipulating DoorDash's digital infrastructure to disburse payments to these fraudulent driver accounts for services never rendered.

Devagiri allegedly exploited the DoorDash system by altering completed deliveries to an "in process" state and reassigning them to accounts controlled by himself and accomplices, thereby initiating a fraudulent cycle, according to prosecutors.

The disgraced ex-employee implicated in the fraud case entered a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November 2023, confessing to his involvement in the elaborate scheme, according to prosecutors.

Devagiri, the third defendant found culpable in this conspiracy, potentially faces a custodial sentence of up to twenty years, coupled with a $250,000 fine, and is due back in court on September 16th.