BOSTON (WWLP) – The boyfriend of a former employee at a Massachusetts pharmaceutical company was convicted of wire fraud in connection with embezzling over $2.3 million.
According to the Department of Justice, in 2022, 40-year-old Priya Bhambi of Brookline and her boyfriend 39-year-old Samuel N. Montronde orchestrated and executed a scheme to defraud Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) of at least $2.3 million in payments for purported consulting services by submitting fabricated invoices on behalf of a sham consulting company.
Bhambi had previously engaged in the same fraud using a different sham consulting company, resulting in payments from Takeda totaling nearly $300,000 for consulting services that were never provided.
The two incorporated Evoluzione Consulting LLC (Evoluzione), created a false website, and submitted a statement of work to Takeda. A master services agreement with Evoluzione was signed by Takeda and a purchase order for consulting services for $3.542 million.