An Atlanta woman has been sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison on Wednesday for a fraud scheme that stole nearly $10 million from Amazon, federal prosecutors said.
Brittany Hudson, 40, was convicted of 30 felony charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and forgery of the signature of a federal judge.
Hudson, along with her partner Kayricka Wortham, 35, ran a fraud scheme against Amazon over the course of six months and made luxury purchases before later falsifying court documents to try and open a hookah lounge in Midtown, according to the Northern District of Georgia's U.S. Attorney's Office.
Here's what to know about the case.
Couple submits fake invoices to Amazon
Starting in January 2022, while
Wortham was working as an operations manager at the Amazon warehouse in Smyrna, she and her romantic partner began to submit fictitious invoices for fake vendors, "falsely claiming that the vendors had provided goods and services to Amazon," federal prosecutors said.
Hudson already owned a business that contracted with Amazon to deliver packages, and had a relationship with the company.
Wortham approved the invoices in her role at Amazon, thereby causing Amazon to transfer money into bank accounts that were controlled by Hudson, Wortham and others.
Over the course of six months, the duo submitted more than 1,000 fake invoices, accounting for more than $9.4 million to enter their bank accounts.
With the money, they bought multiple luxury vehicles like a Lamborghini Urus and a Porsche Panamera, as well as a $1 million home in Smyrna.
The duo were first charged with fraud in December of 2022, and while they were out on bond in January of the next year, they tried to defraud another company.
Falsified signatures of judges
Hudson and Wortham created counterfeit court documents with forged signatures from a Chief U.S. District Judge and a Cobb County Magistrate Judge alleging the charges they faced from the Amazon fraud had been dropped. They emailed the documents to a franchising company in an attempt to start a franchising agreement and open a hookah lounge in Midtown, Atlanta.
Hudson also falsified financial statements with fake values in their bank accounts to try and get the franchise deal, according to federal prosecutors.
"Hudson and her partner engineered a massive fraud scheme against Amazon, stealing nearly $10 million in just a few months," U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. "Hudson then showed her utter contempt for the law by forging a federal judge's signature in a failed effort to defraud another company while out on bond. Today's significant sentence, which must be served without the possibility of parole, holds her accountable for her crime spree."
Hudson was sentenced to 16 years and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Wortham had previously been sentenced to 17 years in prison with the same release process.
The couple was ordered to pay restitution of $9,469,731.45 to Amazon, forfeit their Smyrna home and vehicles and an additional $3 million.
Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Atlanta couple defrauded nearly $10 million from Amazon, feds say
