Poll of the Day > Former Yale Administrator stole $40M claiming to use to buy computers

(+) Yeah! (+)

I guess those computers were top of the line top of the line if they cost $40M.

Turns out she used the money to buy luxury cars and houses.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/m/71558423-91b1-38f0-9a34-8e09c45f705e/former-yale-administrator.html

I just can't imagine not only embezzling forty million, but actually thinking you could get away with it.

BUMPED2002 posted...

I guess those computers were top of the line top of the line if they cost $40M.

Turns out she used the money to buy luxury cars and houses.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/m/71558423-91b1-38f0-9a34-8e09c45f705e/former-yale-administrator.html

If it's Yale it could be some sort of super computer

She pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud and filing false tax returns and faces up to 30 years in prison when she is sentenced in June. Until then, she is free on a $1 million bond. Her attorney didnt immediately return a message seeking comment.
90% of her computer-related purchases were fraudulent.

Starting in 2013, prosecutors said Petrone began making numerous small orders of tablet computers and other equipment that were billed to the school. She would then sell them to a business in New York state and have them send money to the account of a wedding photography and videography company she controlled.

In all, prosecutors say Petrone caused $40,504,200 in losses to Yale. They also say Petrone never declared any of the income on her taxes, filing false returns for 2013 through 2016, and no returns at all between 2017 and 2020. In total, she defrauded the IRS out of over $6 million, according to prosecutors.
As part of her guilty plea, Petrone agreed to forfeit $560,421.14 that was seized from her accounts, two $135,000 Mercedes-Benzes, a $90,000 Range Rover, two Cadillac Escalades and a Dodge Charger. She also has agreed to turn over three properties she co-owns in Connecticut and another in Georgia.

They let her out on bond? They better have fucking frozen all of her and her business's accounts.
Thus far, out of over $40M in fraud, she's only had to pay back $920K plus the value of the three properties. What an absolute fucking joke. And that's not counting the $6M in not-reported wages' taxes she owes the IRS. She funneled it to her business, so that better be getting fucking raided for every penny.

I'm curious why it took so long for anyone to notice/care.

This is kinda old. They were brought in for questioning and such a few months ago. Back then it was believed to only have been $30M.

How do I know?

Because, believe it or not, theyre a friend of a friend.

shadowsword87 posted...

I'm curious why it took so long for anyone to notice/care.

The way she was doing it didnt raise any red flags. And it was really intricate. I dont remember all the details but it was like they would purchase materials and supplies for certain companies, and they had fake made up companies which would get PCs/Laptops sent to them yadda yadda.

streamofthesky posted...

They let her out on bond? They better have fucking frozen all of her and her business's accounts.
Thus far, out of over $40M in fraud, she's only had to pay back $920K plus the value of the three properties. What an absolute fucking joke. And that's not counting the $6M in not-reported wages' taxes she owes the IRS. She funneled it to her business, so that better be getting fucking raided for every penny.

Yeah, she cooperated with them from the start. She knew the jig was up.

Whats sad is that between her and her husband they make $500k+ a year. Both well accomplished and respected so this wasnt something she needed to do.

And most of that money was spent on things that cant be recouped now. . Think Super Bowl tickets and the like.

HornedLion posted...

And most of that money was spent on things that cant be recouped now. . Think Super Bowl tickets and the like.

That's why I'm leery about her being out on bail and "cooperating"

They should not have a penny to rub between their fingers when this is all said and done.
But I already know they'll escape this w/ plenty of money still, and being out on bail will afford them plenty of time to get their *ahem* "international accounts" in order. And plunder their business before having it declare bankruptcy, because as we all know, the business and the business owner are "separate entities".

It's all such fucking bull shit, and so damn blatant.

Oh, had heard about it on NPR but almost immediately forgot about it with all of the other crazy shit.

Also:

They also say Petrone never declared any of the income on her taxes, filing false returns for 2013 through 2016, and no returns at all between 2017 and 2020

I mean, wtf? Why do I pay taxes if the IRS just ignores shit like that?

And:

In total, she defrauded the IRS out of over $6 million, according to prosecutors.

The weird thing is the IRS expects a cut of criminal proceeds

keyblader1985 posted...

I just can't imagine not only embezzling forty million, but actually thinking you could get away with it.

People who go to Yale tend to have outsize egos.

streamofthesky posted...

Thus far, out of over $40M in fraud, she's only had to pay back $920K plus the value of the three properties. What an absolute fucking joke. And that's not counting the $6M in not-reported wages' taxes she owes the IRS. She funneled it to her business, so that better be getting fucking raided for every penny.

I'm wondering how much of the money she still has. Anyway, it feels like they should seize just about everything they can find, although I'm sure she's squirrelled money away somewhere.

BUMPED2002 posted...

I guess those computers were top of the line top of the line if they cost $40M.

If that includes software, that's not so ridiculous. Before they were bought by a big company the small company I work for spent over $120,000 on a single piece of accounting software, the big company uses the same software and they spent a lot more, like in the $1 million range. Microsoft 365 E5 is $57 per month per user. Times 4000 employees, times 12 months, that's $2.7 million.

And screwing around on Dell's website I've managed to spec out single servers with a price tag of over $1 million. (I think it had several hundred cores, over 1 TB of RAM, and an obscene amount of SSD storage. And on-board video, so it won't run Crysis very well.) A much more practical server costs around $5000 to $20,000, and even the small company I work for has like 30 or 40. Plus tape loaders, switches, routers, firewalls, etc.

The standard issue laptop that the big company uses currently costs $1900 each and we have thousands.

And then there's consultants, special projects, security audits, and all that other stuff.

$40 million isn't that crazy for a large IT department.