Together, Ms. Wortham and Ms. Hudson used the stolen cash to purchase a five-bedroom house in Izmir, a few miles from Amazon’s warehouse, for nearly $1 million, along with a Lamborghini, a Tesla, a Porsche Panamera, a Kawasaki motorcycle and a Dodge Durango SUV, according to prosecutors. They also bought expensive jewelry with the stolen money, charge documents show.
After Ms. Wortham left Amazon in March 2022, the plan continued, prosecutors said.
In January, while on bail, Ms Wortham and Ms Hudson were working with a franchise company to try to open a hookah lounge, according to prosecutors. When the company asked them about allegations related to the Amazon case, Ms. Wortham and Ms. Hudson sent the company forged court documents indicating that charges had been dismissed in the case, according to prosecutors. Their ties were revoked after authorities learned of the forgery.
Last month, Ms Hudson was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in the Amazon case. She and Ms Wortham were also charged with forgery in connection with trying to claim that the charges in the Amazon case had been dismissed.
An attorney for Ms. Hudson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Ms. Wortham and Ms. Hudson were assisted in the Amazon scheme by Demetrius Hines, who worked in loss prevention for Amazon, and Laquettia Blanchard, who was an HR assistant at the firm, according to prosecutors.
Mr. Hines and Ms. Blanchard gave Ms. Wortham names and Social Security numbers which were used to create some of the bogus vendor accounts, according to prosecutors. Mr. Hines purchased the stolen personal information from JaQuan Frazier, prosecutors said.
Mr. Hines pleaded guilty to conspiracy to wire fraud in November. Last month, Ms. Blanchard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to wire fraud, and Mr. Frazier pleaded guilty to misrepresenting a crime or acting to conceal a crime from authorities.
Mr. Hines, Ms. Blanchard and Mr. Frazier will be sentenced at a later date, according to prosecutors. Lawyers for the three did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
