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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a Bergen County man has pleaded
guilty to 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, pleaded guilty yesterday
to second-degree theft of services before
Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian
in Bergen County. That charge was contained
in a December 2009 state grand jury indictment
obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice.
Hathiramani
was scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 12.
He instead pleaded guilty without entering
into a plea agreement with the state. Second-degree
crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years
in state prison. Judge Jerejian scheduled
sentencing for Hathiramani for Dec. 3.
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 New
Jersey 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 subsequently
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. He posted $100,000 bond and
has remained free.
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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