The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Oregon district says a former Nike took several steps to defraud the company of nearly $ 1.5 million over a two-year period.
According to a press release, Errol Amorin Andam is accused of bank fraud, money laundering and false statements in a loan application. Andam, who worked at the brand from 2001 until he was fired in 2018, was recently a marketing manager for U.S. retail brands, a position he was tasked with organizing emerging promotional events. Federals say Andam used these events to carry out his fraud scheme.
As of the summer of 2016, Andam is said to have hired a childhood friend as an independent contractor to help him build the pop-ups. Unbeknownst to Nike, Andam was financially involved in his friend’s company and sent invoices to the brand under a false name, Frank Little.
During the pop-up events, Andam allegedly took Square credit card sales through a reader of his friend’s company, telling both Nike and his friend that the charges were a refund of the amount Nike owed. for construction costs. Instead, Andam allegedly would save the money for himself, billing Nike the full amounts under the name Frank Little.
Andam is said to have used a defunct LLC as a parent company to wrap its own $ 1.5 million in Nike revenue. The charge on the loan application is related to a July 2018 attempt to secure a residential mortgage loan. He now faces 30 years in federal prison with fines of up to $ 4.5 million.
Nike issued the following statement on the subject: “Nike’s internal investigation team discovered Mr. Andam’s activity in 2017 and, after he was fired from the company, we handed over the evidence to the lawyer. It is unfortunate that Mr. Andam, who had a job that allowed him access to some of the most exciting events in the world of sports, chose to abuse the trust that Nike gave him. American efforts in this case.