Zulily embezzlement case

GrailSeeker · ‎12-01-2012

Has anyone else heard about this? Scott Reisch of YouTube's Crime Talk named Castro tonight as his "Dumb Criminal Of The Day". Source is Yahoo News

Charges were filed last week against a former Zulily software engineer accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the company through a scheme involving software edits to the Zulily.com checkout page.

According to documents filed by Seattle police, Ermenildo Valdez Castro told detectives that the scheme was inspired by a similar one in the 1999 film “Office Space.”

Court documents state that Castro began making the malicious edits in spring 2022. There were reportedly three specific ways Castro stole from the company by editing the website customers used to buy products:

By writing a software code that applied a small percentage of Zulily customer checkouts and sent all shipping fees associated with those purchases to a Stripe.com account controlled by Castro, resulting in the theft of $110,240.71;
After Zulily began investigating that issue, Castro wrote a replacement code that double-charged certain customers for shipping and sent the shipping fee to both Zulily and Castro’s Stripe.com account, resulting in the theft of $151,645.50;
Castro changed the prices of items on Zulily.com and then bought the items for pennies-on-the-dollar, resulting in the theft of $40,842.31.

In total, Castro stole $302,278.52. He faces two counts of first-degree theft and one count of first-degree identity theft.

In late May, Zulily’s fraud team learned of the steep price adjustments Castro was making to items that were sold and shipped to his Tacoma residence, according to police. He was fired the next month after members of the company’s corporate security team went to his home and found several Zulily boxes piled outside the front door and driveway.

Between March 1 and June 2, Castro ordered a total of 1,294 items with a total value of $41,096.20. Police said Castro only paid $253.89 for the items.

In its certification for determination of probable cause, Seattle police included the plot outline of the “Office Space” movie that Castro said inspired him

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@GrailSeeker Yes, read all about it week before last. He made it easy for detectives to track his activity. Maybe that's why Zu!Ily had such a big loss, at least partly. There was a report about it on the CNN website.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

GrailSeeker · ‎12-01-2012

@Kachina624 wrote:
@GrailSeeker Yes, read all about it week before last. He made it easy for detectives to track his activity. Maybe that's why Zu!Ily had such a big loss, at least partly. There was a report about it on the CNN website.

The loss was my first thought, too.

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

I hadn't heard anything about Qurate losing money at the hand of hired thief. Shameful. This is the kind of thing that will land you a long stint in prison.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@GrailSeeker wrote:
Has anyone else heard about this? Scott Reisch of YouTube's Crime Talk named Castro tonight as his "Dumb Criminal Of The Day". Source is Yahoo News

Charges were filed last week against a former Zulily software engineer accused of stealing more than $300,000 from the company through a scheme involving software edits to the Zulily.com checkout page.
According to documents filed by Seattle police, Ermenildo Valdez Castro told detectives that the scheme was inspired by a similar one in the 1999 film “Office Space.”
Court documents state that Castro began making the malicious edits in spring 2022. There were reportedly three specific ways Castro stole from the company by editing the website customers used to buy products:
By writing a software code that applied a small percentage of Zulily customer checkouts and sent all shipping fees associated with those purchases to a Stripe.com account controlled by Castro, resulting in the theft of $110,240.71;
After Zulily began investigating that issue, Castro wrote a replacement code that double-charged certain customers for shipping and sent the shipping fee to both Zulily and Castro’s Stripe.com account, resulting in the theft of $151,645.50;
Castro changed the prices of items on Zulily.com and then bought the items for pennies-on-the-dollar, resulting in the theft of $40,842.31.
In total, Castro stole $302,278.52. He faces two counts of first-degree theft and one count of first-degree identity theft.
In late May, Zulily’s fraud team learned of the steep price adjustments Castro was making to items that were sold and shipped to his Tacoma residence, according to police. He was fired the next month after members of the company’s corporate security team went to his home and found several Zulily boxes piled outside the front door and driveway.
Between March 1 and June 2, Castro ordered a total of 1,294 items with a total value of $41,096.20. Police said Castro only paid $253.89 for the items.
In its certification for determination of probable cause, Seattle police included the plot outline of the “Office Space” movie that Castro said inspired him

I've read that the fraudster took a playbook from a movie name "Office Space." This is how he got the idea to do what he did.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life

FancyPhillyshopper · ‎05-02-2017

So very sad that workers deceive their companies like that.

Basically his career is ruined, and he will probably be jailed and responsible for restitution.

These days companies need multiple checks and balances to counteract the criminal mindset that seems to be ever present.

I also feel sorry for all the customers that were ripped-off.

At least he has been caught now.

Kachina624 · ‎03-10-2010

@FancyPhillyshopper The way I interpreted his shenigans, I don't think any customers were harmed, just the company.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment

gertrudecloset · ‎02-13-2021

@Kachina624 wrote:
@FancyPhillyshopper The way I interpreted his shenigans, I don't think any customers were harmed, just the company.

Identity theft is harmful to those whose identities were stolen.....

Here are the three methods authorities accused him of using:

(1) an original code that diverted some customer shipping costs from Zulily’s account to Castro’s personal account beginning on February 28, 2022, through which Castro unlawfully obtained $110,240.71 from Zulily;

(2) after Zulily began investigating that first issue, a replacement code that doublecharged a small percentage of Zulily customers for shipping, allowing Castro to route a ‘full’ shipping cost to both Zulily’s accounts and his own account, through which Castro unlawfully obtained $151,645.50 from customers; and

(3) unrelated to the first two issues, by reducing the cost of expensive items that he was purchasing on Zulily.com to pennies per unit, a method by which he unlawfully obtained $40,842.31 from Zulily. Through these three methods, Castro stole a combined $302,278.52 before he was terminated in June 2022.

A Negative Mind ~ Will give you a Negative Life