Westford Man Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion and Theft of Computer and Telephone Equipment from His Employer

BOSTON, MA—A Westford man pled guilty today to federal charges that he stole over $320,000 in computer and telephone equipment from his former employer, sold the equipment to third parties, and then evaded almost $90,000 in income tax on his profits from reselling the stolen goods.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and JoAnn Zuniga, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office, announced today that RIMBA B. HANDOJO, age 24, of Westford, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in federal district court to one count of conspiracy, eight counts of mail fraud, and two counts of tax evasion. HANDOJO also faces restitution and forfeiture of over a quarter million dollars in illegal profits, including real estate purchased with the profits.

At the plea hearing, the prosecutor informed the court that HANDOJO stole approximately $323,000 in computer and telephone equipment from Nortel Networks, Inc. in Billerica, where HANDOJO was employed from 1999 through 2004. HANDOJO sold the equipment to resellers in the United States and overseas, and then failed to pay income taxes on his profits. HANDOJO conspired to steal some of the equipment with a Nortel co-worker, who was charged separately and pleaded guilty previously. When Nortel discovered HANDOJO’s thefts, they contacted Billerica Police, who found approximately $40,000 in stolen equipment in HANDOJO’s car and residence. HANDOJO willfully evaded paying almost $90,000 in income taxes on this illegal business, failed to file a return for his 2003 taxes, and sent a false Social Security number to one customer to prevent it from reporting his income accurately to the Internal Revenue Service.

HANDOJO is scheduled to be sentenced before Senior United States District Judge Edward F. Harrington on April 8, 2009. HANDOJO faces up to 20 years of imprisonment on each mail fraud count, and up to 5 years of imprisonment on the conspiracy count and each tax evasion count. HANDOJO also faces up to 3 years of supervised release per count and fines ranging from $100,000 for the tax evasion counts to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss for each of the mail fraud and conspiracy counts. The plea agreement indicates that HANDOJO will pay over $283,000 in restitution to Nortel and almost $125,000 in restitution to the IRS for back taxes and penalties, and forfeiture of his illegal profits, including real estate he purchased with the profits.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, following an initial investigation by Nortel and the Billerica Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott L. Garland, of Sullivan’s Computer Crimes Unit.