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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a Bergen County man was sentenced
to state prison today for stealing nearly
$500,000 in shipping services from Federal
Express by opening accounts with the company
using fraudulent identities.
According
to Director Taylor, Kumar Hathiramani, 51,
of Englewood Cliffs, was sentenced to five
years in state prison by Superior Court
Judge Edward A. Jerejian in Bergen County.
He pleaded guilty on Oct. 7 to a charge
of second-degree theft of services. The
court ordered that Hathirimani pay restitution
in accordance with an agreement he reached
with Federal Express, and he has paid that
restitution. Hathiramani was charged in
a December 2009 state grand jury indictment,
which resulted from an investigation by
the New Jersey State Police Cargo Theft
Unit. He was scheduled to go on trial on
Oct. 12, but instead pleaded guilty without
entering into a plea agreement with the
state.
Deputy
Attorney General Andrew C. Fried prosecuted
the case and took the guilty plea for the
Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes
Bureau.
Federal
Express security specialists initially uncovered
the fraud and referred the case to the State
Police Cargo Theft Unit for investigation.
The investigation revealed that Hathiramani
defrauded Federal Express by using fraudulent
names of individuals and companies to open
shipping accounts with the company. He initially
opened the accounts using bank gift cards.
He used the accounts to ship packages around
the world on credit. Hathiramani shipped
large orders of cosmetics from his home
and a warehouse he operated in Ridgefield
Borough.
The
investigation revealed that between December
2003 and October 2007, Hathiramani used
approximately 20 different accounts that
he opened in numerous fictitious names to
make approximately 134 shipments. As a result,
he stole approximately $497,568 in shipping
services. On December 19, 2007, the State
Police Cargo Theft Unit executed a search
warrant at his home and warehouse, seizing
documents and computers containing evidence
of the thefts. Hathiramani was arrested
the same day.
The
investigation was conducted for the New
Jersey State Police by Detective Anthony
Hsu and Trooper Timothy Steele under the
direction of Detective Sgt. Sandor Lengyel
Jr.
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