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Brookline woman gets jail time for embezzling $2.5 million from Takeda
The court ordered forfeiture of assets including a Mercedes-Benz Model E, a diamond engagement ring, and a Seaport condominium.
A Brookline woman was sentenced Thursday for engaging in a scheme to defraud Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited of at least $2.5 million, officials say.
Between approximately January 2022 and October 2022, Priya Bhambi, 40, of Brookline, Mass., a former employee in the technology operations group of the company, allegedly orchestrated a scheme with a co-conspirator to defraud Takeda of millions in payments for “purported consulting services by submitting fabricated invoices on behalf of a sham consulting company,” according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office.
Bhambi also committed fraud using another fake consulting company, the statement said, that resulted in payments from Takeda totaling nearly $300,000 for consulting services that were never provided.
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In February 2022, the two allegedly incorporated Evoluzione Consulting LLC, and Bhambi made a website for Evoluzione with false information including, “fabricated blog posts to make it appear that Evoluzione was a legitimate consulting business,” authorities said.
Bhambi and the co-conspirator allegedly convinced the pharmaceutical company to sign a master services agreement with Evoluzione and issue a purchase order with a total cost of $3.542 million, officials said.
Then, between March and May of 2022, they submitted five separate fabricated invoices, each totaling $460,000, according to the office. Before Takeda was made aware of the scheme and fired Bhambi, the company paid all of the invoices.
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In total, Bhambi and the alleged co-conspirator defrauded Takeda of $2.3 million in payments, which they used to purchase assets in the court’s forfeiture order, the statement said.
The court ordered forfeiture in the same amount as well as a Mercedes-Benz Model E, over $1 million in fraud proceeds held in bank accounts, a $49,985 wedding venue deposit, a diamond engagement ring, and a Seaport condominium purchased with fraud proceeds, according to authorities.
In June 2024, Bhambi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud, the statement said.
Authorities said Bhambi and the alleged co-conspirator, who did not work at Takeda and is set for trial beginning Dec. 2, were charged in an indictment filed in March 2023.
The office said that Bhambi was sentenced to 46 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and is ordered to pay $2,585,480 in restitution.
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