- The software engineer manipulated the code and stole over 300K USD
- Siphoned off money lost after investing in meme stock options
Replace: One of Zulily’s former software engineers has been accused of stealing from the firm. The accused, Ermenildo Ernie Castro, wanted to put the stolen money into stocks.
Taking inspiration from “Office Space”—a 1999 movie about slacker revenge—Castro ended up siphoning off more than 300K USD from the online retailer’s account.
Surprisingly, with the development in the investigation, he claimed that the money he stole from the company was gone. He told the police that he lost the majority of it while betting on GameStop stock options.
Last month, prosecutors went on to charge Castro in Kings County Superior Court. The charge details that the software engineer defrauded the company he used to work with. He was charged with one count of felony identity theft while two counts of felony theft.
While working at Zulily, Castro allegedly exploited the source code of the company’s check out page and wiped out about 261,885 USD. The stolen amount was accumulated through shipping fees and the accused transferred the amount to his personal account on the financial services platform Stripe.
In addition to this, by changing the prices of the products and buying expensive items at dirt cheap prices, he made about 40,842 USD. For instance, he bought a 565.99 USD worth Gray Linen Convertible Sofa Bed for just 1 USD! Castro is alleged to have stolen about 302,278.52 USD in total, according to the prosecutors.
Although the money that was admitted by the culprit is said to be possibly more than the told amount, it is now all gone.
According to the court documents, Castro made it clear that the stolen money was allocated “to invest in stock options”, which particularly includes GameStop stock options. Meanwhile, there is no clear information about the options he put the bet on and then left with nothing at the end investing in the meme stock.
Castro’s hearing will be held within this month.
The American video game, consumer electronics and gaming merchandise retailer GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is currently trading at 16.38 USD with 0.49% drop in the last 24 hours. GME stock price is down by about 50% year over year.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/01/10/zulily-employee-accused-of-stealing-from-co-loses-all-of-it-on-gamestop-stock-options/