DENVER — A Colorado woman has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution for stealing nearly $500,000 from her employer.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said in a release that Tiffany Vo, 37, of Denver, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for a scheme to defraud Amazon.
According to the plea agreement, between the summer of 2020 and at least June 2022, Vo worked for Amazon in a role in which she administered virtual employee programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. She devised a scheme to fabricate invoices and expense reports to claim reimbursement for about $483,000 in purported corporate event expenditures that never happened.
The release said Vo spent the stolen money on personal expenses including designer handbags and sunglasses, payments toward her condo, two vehicles, exercise equipment and thousands of dollars of beauty products.
“White collar crimes like this one cause financial impact to not just corporate entities, but to consumers and taxpayers,” Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch said in a statement. “This office will continue to prosecute criminals who exploit access for personal gain.”
“Instead of working for her employer, this defendant was furtively working against her employer," FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said. "Over the course of her deception, she stole nearly $500,000 and used the money to live exorbitantly beyond her means. Members of the FBI Denver complex financial crimes squad were able to unravel the defendant’s embezzlement scheme, and now she faces the justice she earned.”
Vo was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $483,393.58.
