Amazon's complaint leads to FIR against 22 ex-employees in Rs 102 crore US truck data fraud

HYDERABAD: Telangana's Cyber Security Bureau has registered a case against 22 former employees of Amazon Development Centre (India) Pvt Ltd in connection with a fraudulent scheme amounting to Rs 102 crore.

Most of the accused are from Hyderabad, Sangareddy, Karimnagar in Telangana and Vizianagaram, East Godavari and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Some are also from Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

In the complaint, lodged by GS Arjun Kumar, Amazon's corporate counsel, it was alleged that the employees engaged in fraudulent practices while working at the company's relay operations centre (ROC) in Nanakramguda.

The accused accepted bribes to manipulate freight operations and benefited third-party carriers, particularly those in the US.

The ROC, which managed freight operations across multiple countries, was central to the fraud.

Internal systems exploited to rig data, says Amazon

Amazon said employees were explicitly prohibited from unauthorised communication with carriers, yet the accused individuals allegedly set up contacts and negotiated bribes outside official channels.

Amazon's internal investigation, which began on April 30, 2022, uncovered that two transport specialists at the ROC were involved in assigning unauthorised "bobtails" to US carriers in exchange for bribes. A bobtail refers to the movement of an empty truck without a trailer between facilities, typically without transporting goods. These movements are assigned under specific conditions, where a driver can "check out" the bobtail at the originating facility and "check in" at the destination without picking up or delivering any products.

Employees at the ROC allegedly manipulated this system to assign fraudulent bobtails to carriers, resulting in unauthorised payments. Further probe revealed the involvement of 18 additional employees, who created fraudulent bobtail assignments for bribes ranging from $5 to $500 per assignment or monthly payments of up to $2,000.

The investigation also found that internal systems, such as the freight management console (FMC), were exploited to manipulate data. The employees bypassed standard protocols, including obtaining supervisor approval for bobtails exceeding 250 miles and properly recording these actions in the relay load board. Several employees allegedly confessed to their involvement during internal disciplinary proceedings.

The accused have been charged under various sections of the IPC, Information Technology Act, and other relevant laws.

The case was filed after Amazon submitted a private complaint before a first additional junior civil judge-cum-ninth additional judicial magistrate first class in Kukatpally following initial refusals by Gachibowli PS and Cyberabad police economic offences wing to register an FIR. Upon receiving directions from court, Cyberabad police filed the FIR, which was later transferred to the Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau on Jan 22.