Former Vice President at Gamestop Admits Defrauding Company of Nearly $2 Million
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 20, 2012 |
DALLAS, TX—Frank Christopher Olivera, the former vice president of corporate communications and public affairs at Gamestop Texas LP, appeared in federal court in Dallas today and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver to one count of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Olivera, 46, of Grapevine, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution. He will remain on bond pending sentencing before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to documents filed in the case, beginning in July 2009 and continuing to April 2011, Olivera defrauded Gamestop by submitting false and fraudulent invoices for vendor services from a fictitious company, “Cloud Communications LLC,” which he owned and controlled. Olivera directed Gamestop to send the payments from Gamestop’s offices in Grapevine to Cloud Communications LLC in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and in Canada. In addition to creating a fictitious company, Olivera also created a fictitious person, “Jennifer Miller,” to serve as the point of contact at Cloud Communications. Upon receipt of payments from Gamestop, Olivera would deposit the checks into a bank account held by Cloud Communications and then would transfer the fraudulently obtained funds into his personal bank account.
The overall scheme to defraud involved $1,965,900 in fraudulent invoices.
The case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Errin Martin is in charge of the prosecution.