A former Yale School of Medicine employee pleaded guilty to fraud and tax charges related to her theft of $40 million worth of computer and electronic hardware from her employer.
That's according to an email press release sent out by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Monday afternoon.
The press release states that Jamie Petrone, a 42-year-old Georgia resident who previously lived in Naugatuck, pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court Monday to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return.
According to the press release, the first charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and the latter a maximum of three years behind bars. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.
According to the email press release, Patrone started working for the Yale University School of Medicine in 2008, ultimately rising to the rank of director of finance and administration for the emergency medicine department.
"As part of her job responsibilities, Petrone had authority to make and authorize certain purchases for departmental needs as long as the purchase amount was below $10,000," the press release reads. #"Beginning at least as early as 2013, Petrone engaged in a scheme whereby she ordered, or caused others working for her to order, millions of dollars of electronic hardware from Yale vendors using Yale Med funds and arranged to ship the stolen hardware to an out-of-state business in exchange for money.
"As part of the scheme, Petrone falsely represented on Yale internal forms and in electronic communications that the hardware was for specified Yale Med needs, such as particular medical studies, and she broke up the fraudulent purchases into orders below the $10,000 threshold that would require additional approval. The out-of-state business, which resold the electronic equipment to customers, paid Petrone by wiring funds into an account of a company in which she is a principal, Maziv Entertainment LLC."
In total, the press release states, Petrone #"caused a loss of approximately $40,504,200 to Yale." She then used the proceeds of those sales #"for various personal expenses, including expensive cars, real estate and travel."
The press release also states that Petrone failed to pay taxes on the money she received from selling the stolen goods, resulting in a loss of over $6.4 million to the U.S. Treasury.
It states that Petrone has agreed to forfeit $560,421.41 that was seized from her company's bank account, as well as #"a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G550, a 2017 Land Rover/Range Rover Sv Autobiography, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade Premium, a 2020 Mercedes Benz Model E450A, a 2016 Cadillac Escalade (4 Door Sport), and a 2018 Dodge Charger."
She was released on a $1 million bond pending sentencing.
Asked for comment on Petrone's guilty plea, Yale spokesperson Karen Peart said, #"Yale initially alerted authorities to evidence of suspected criminal behavior last year and fully cooperated throughout the investigation. The university thanks local law enforcement, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for their handling of the case. Since the incident, Yale has worked to identify and correct gaps in its internal financial controls."
Source: https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/yale_med_lawsuit