Non-profit's IT manager accused of embezzling $400k by buying gear, services from his own fake companies

An IT manager in the US was arrested on Friday for allegedly embezzling about $370,000 from an unidentified non-profit organization. Prosecutors said Kyriakos 'Rick' Kapiris, 35, of Northborough, Massachusetts, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Released on $10,000 bond to await the …

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Enterprise IT solutions provider

All he had to do was actually deliver some equipment

ie. buy pallet loads of surplus junk Cisco/EMC kit on Ebay, resell it to the non-profit at original retail price + 30% and deliver it - before replacing it a year later because of cyber-security

[ecofeco]

Re: Enterprise IT solutions provider

Right? The grift is so easy and yet they STILL can't be arsed to give the least little bit of effort.

[Gordon 10]

Re: Enterprise IT solutions provider

He didn’t even have to buy trash. Decent kit with a 10% markup on it would have done.

[Mark 85]

Re: Enterprise IT solutions provider

A BOFH he isn't obviously. I hazard a guess that he's not a reader of El Reg's BOFH otherwise he'd have learned something.

[Michael Hoffmann]

Crime pays?

It may sound so at first - but those 15 months are still spent in a US prison. Not sure anybody comes out of that unscathed, mentally or physically.

[Mark 85]

Re: Crime pays?

He'll probably serve his time in one of the so-called "hotel" prisons for high execs and other prominent types. Golf course, etc. provided.

[David Hicklin]

Re: Crime pays?

And this one that they caught...how many others get away with it by keeping it small enough and under the radar ????

[ecofeco]

Nonprofit a bit shady?

...well, not that shocked.

[IGotOut]

Re: Nonprofit a bit shady?

Which bit of defrauding the company do you not understand?

I've seen first hand scams like this in a multi-billion Pound company.

It happens all the time, in all sectors.

[ecofeco]

Re: Nonprofit a bit shady?

What words are you trying to put in my mouth?

A nonprofit was found to be shady. Almost all of them are a bit shady. I know from firsthand inside experience.

So what again, was your point?

[Swarthy]

Re: Nonprofit a bit shady?

The non-profit was not found to be shady. A guy working for them was shady, and ripped them off.

This does not make the Non-Profit shady any more than your dead-beat brother-in-law swiping your kid's piggy bank makes you a bad parent.

[hayzoos]

Re: Nonprofit a bit shady?

What article did you not read? The shadyness of the non-profit in this article cannot be determined by the article. Meanwhile, it does implicate the IT manager as quite shady. It also hints that Amazon and Square are complicit by their respective actions and lack of actions.

Simply because an organization had a shady member does not make the whole shady.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Nonprofit a bit shady?

It's usually easier to rip off non-profits, especially from the inside.

It's not like they are going to have armies of accountants and compliance officers watching everyone

[My other car WAS an IAV Stryker]

"Damn it feels good to be a gangsta"

One of my favorite parts of the movie "Office Space" -- nice pairing of visuals and soundtrack.

Of course, it's a given that the beat-up-the-printer/fax scene is tops. ------>

(As I recall, those are two different scenes. If they're not, I'm due for a rewatching; yet both statements remain true: it IS one of my favorites because it IS tops.)

[Danny 2]

Plea deals seem coercive

About 96.5 per cent of fraud cases in the US conclude with a plea deal

And how many of those people were actually guilty? Plea deals seem coercive, 'save our court costs or you will be hammered'. The percentages of US plea deals seem similar to, and as believable as, Saddam Hussein's election results.

[Wormy]

Re: Plea deals seem coercive

You're not wrong.

I got beat up by some cops, spent a night in jail, charged with "obstructing a law enforcement officer" and "resisting arrest," got to pay an attorney several thousand dollars, and was basically coerced into a plea deal that meant they kept all the money and it stayed off my record as long as I didn't end up in court within 2 years.

Justice is an illusion, at least in the US (and really, most other places in the world).

[IGotOut]

Re: Plea deals seem coercive

You missed out the part where if you are poor, you rot in jail for a few years because you can't afford the bail, guilty or not.

[Danny 2]

Re: Plea deals seem coercive

My best wishes Wormy, that is just awful.

I hate to admit it but most UK cops and judiciary aren't that bad. One day I was locked up on 'suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage'. The facts that there was no damage and I was alone eventually persuaded them to release me, just 70 miles away from where I was arrested. I've witnessed some violent police abuse but never suffered it myself. Not all cops are bastards, mostly just the higher ranking ones.

"My brother in law is a QC" - true for me but feel free to use it if you are British. It has a very calming effect on out of control police.

[Anonymous Coward]

Released on $10,000 bond

you bet it came from his own, HARD-EARNED savings! :D

[Pascal Monett]

Embezzling a non-profit organization

The lowest pickings, the easiest targets.

Non-profits with a strong financial structure, strong internal controls and a meticulous verification of invoices are few and far between.

On top of that, as IT manager he was in an ideal position to know just what to do and how to present it to slip through the cracks.

Although he still got caught, so easy as the job was, he was still too stupid for it.

Many crooks succeed at first. It's the ones that don't get caught that are good.

[disgruntled yank]

Re: Embezzling a non-profit organization

I know of a case where a fellow tried this out on a non-profit that got enough government money to be subject to the oversight of Defense Contract Audit Agency, once describe to a government employee I knew as "those unsmiling guys down the hall who are out to send you to jail." He actually ran his scam--services, not equipment--for several years before being caught.

[Peter D]

America has private prisons

The authorities need to check who owns the prison he gets sent to. He might be one step ahead.

[Anonymous Coward]

The last paragraph is the kicker.

"About 96.5 per cent of fraud cases in the US conclude with a plea deal while the remaining 3.5 per cent go to trial. Last year, the prosecution of corporate and white collar crime reached an all-time low since tracking began in 1986."

High payoff, low risk way to increase profit (or stealing profits) and avoid taxes, makes this the norm in US business and government enterprises. Works for any kind of business or agency.