A former Microsoft employee accused of ordering more
than $7 million worth of software at the company and selling it on the side
for a huge personal profit pleaded guilty Monday to fraud and money
laundering charges, said federal prosecutors.
Finn W. Contini, 36, of Redmond, Wash., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court
in Seattle to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of money
laundering, according to federal prosecutors.
He will be sentenced on Feb. 3.
Conti, a former group assistant at Microsoft, was accused of exploiting a
flaw in the software giant’s Internal Ordering Program. He ordered
$7.1 million in software from vendor Client Logic without permission from
supervisors. He later sold at least 2,692 pieces of software for more than
$2.3 million. He purchased properties, cars and expensive jewelry with the
ill-gotten gains, said prosecutors.
As part of the plea agreement, Contini has forfeited $1.7 million in
assets he obtained with money from the scheme, including four properties in
Washington and Oregon, a 2003 Toyota Highlander, a 2002 Honda Civic, silver
and gold coins and more than $188,000 in bank accounts and currency.
Microsoft’s internal purchasing system was supposed to notify Conti’s
supervisor of any orders by e-mail. But instead of putting his manager’s
e-mail address as the appropriate contact, Conti entered the e-mail of
other employees allegedly involved in the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The three other former Microsoft employees are Alyson Clark, 38, of
Normandy Park, Wash.; Christine Hendrikson, 34, of Bothell, Wash.; and Robert
Howdeshell, 40, of Puyallup, Wash. Each was charged in November with
conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in connection with the scheme,
according to the prosecutors.
Prosecutors also claim the scheme continued even after Contini resigned
from Microsoft in February 2002. He allegedly instructed Clark and
Hendrikson which software to order, the amount to order and where to send
it, according to prosecutors.
Both Clark and Hendrikson are scheduled for plea hearings Jan. 28.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the
FBI.
