$10 million lost in Cisco computer fraud

A COMPUTER technician working for the New Jersey city of Newark has been arrested on charges he defrauded Cisco Systems of more than $10 million.

According to Associated Press, Michael Kyereme, 40, from Piscataway used one of the company's programmes for replacing broken or defective parts.

Prosecutors say that Kyereme assisted city employees when their computers needed troubleshooting. He was authorised to contact Cisco for technical assistance and to order replacement parts if they were needed.

Since August 2002 Kyereme ordered about 280 parts from Cisco claiming that they were replacements for parts in the city's computer system that were dead or not responding. The gear, some of it worth $250,000. was not faulty and when it arrived Kyereme would flog it through an out-of-state reseller mate of his, prosecutors claim.

A search of his home found $3 million worth of computer parts waiting to be shifted. This is the second arrest involving Cisco's equipment-replacement programme being exploited.

Michael Daly, 53, of Danvers, was arrested Tuesday on a wire fraud charge after he allegedly used false identities in 39 states and ordered replacement parts at least 700 times from Cisco without ever returning the defective items. More here. µ