Former Chief Financial Officer Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 18 Months In Prison For Defrauding Company Of Over $2 Million

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that RANDY WANG was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 18 months in prison for defrauding his former employer, a company based in Manhattan that manages a global airline alliance whose members consist of approximately 13 international airlines and their affiliates (the “Company”), by incurring more than $2.2 million in unauthorized charges on the Company’s credit card account.  WANG pled guilty on April 17, 2018, to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan, who also imposed today’s sentence.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Randy Wang took advantage of his positions of trust with his employer – and his access to the company’s purse strings.  He charged millions of dollars’ worth of electronics on his employer’s credit card for non-businesses purposes, and attempted to cover up his criminal conduct.  Today Wang has been sentenced to prison for his crime.”

According to the Information filed against Wang and statements made in related court filings and proceedings: 

During the relevant time period, WANG was employed as a business manager for the Company, and for approximately the last two months of the scheme, WANG also served as the Company’s interim chief financial officer.  From at least in or about January 2016 through in or about October 2017, WANG incurred more than $2.2 million of unauthorized charges on the Company’s credit card account by making hundreds of purchases at both online and brick-and-mortar retailers.  WANG’s purchases, which were entirely unrelated to his official duties and were not for the benefit of the Company, included approximately 443 laptop computers, 241 mobile electronic devices, 24 tablet computers, and numerous other electronics.  In order to evade detection of his criminal conduct, WANG made changes to the Company’s accounting records to disguise the nature of the credit card charges.

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In addition to his prison term, WANG, 34, of Oakland Gardens, New York, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release, a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $2,294,982.00, and a restitution order in the amount of $2,294,982.00.

Mr. Berman praised the work of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the El Dorado Task Force. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Magdo is in charge of the prosecution.