Police: Ex-Worker Ripped Off Olympus Via TV Scheme

A former employee of Olympus Corporation of the Americas in Upper Saucon Township has been charged with three felony counts of theft and forgery for allegedly defrauding the corporation of $374,303 over more than two and a half years.

Officials say the man purchased documents and ordered 454 high-end televisions, which were paid for by the company. He then sold the TVs on eBay, according to police and prosecutors.

Benjamin Wilson, 35, of Katy, Texas, and formerly of 819 North St. in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, was charged on Friday with one count each of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and forgery, all second-degree felonies.

Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said a criminal complaint was filed in the office of District Judge David B. Harding in Coopersburg and that detectives in Texas have been notified to arrest Wilson.

Martin said he plans to extradite Wilson from Texas.

The investigation began in June 2011 after an Olympus employee contacted to report a suspected theft.  

The resulting investigation involved interviews with corporation employees, reviews of numerous documents, and execution of search warrants for bank accounts held by Wilson and eBay and PayPal accounts that were traced to Wilson.

An affidavit of probable cause filed by Upper Saucon Township Detective Joseph Pochron, commanding officer of the of Lehigh County on the campus of , alleges the following:

Wilson worked for the Scientific Equipment Group of Olympus and was placing orders with Dell U.S.A. LP for products, such as computer work stations, that were used by customers or field representatives in conjunction with Olympus products, which included scientific equipment.

Wilson also would handle invoices before they were sent to the Accounts Payable Department.

On June 21, 2011, a senior asset protection analyst in Olympus’ Internal Audit Department contacted Upper Saucon Township police. Employees told police that in late February to early March 2011, Olympus noticed that the Scientific Equipment Group had purchased 10 Dell workstations valued at about $44,683 that could not be accounted for.  

Members of the Audit Department said documentation showed that the purchases had been made by Wilson, who had left the company around that time.

Olympus contacted Dell and learned that there was not a corresponding purchase order for the workstations. In response to the inquiry, Dell provided a list of purchases that showed Olympus had purchased 46 Vizio LCD HD televisions in October and November 2010.

Olympus officials told police that the company rarely, if ever, purchases Vizio televisions.

Olympus told police that the Audit Department started its own investigation at that time into purchases made by Wilson.

The department uncovered an email that had been forwarded from Wilson’s personal e-mail account to his work email regarding an eBay sale by eBay member “benandem98” and a winning bidder’s complaint that the television he bought had a scratch. The department discovered another e-mail from a bidder who had not yet received a television.

Olympus reviewed the feedback profile for “benandem98” on eBay and found that the seller had sold a large quantity of Vizio televisions between March 23, 2010, and April 10, 2011.

Police reviewed Dell purchase orders for Vizio televisions that contained corresponding Olympus purchase orders and determined that documents had been altered to indicate that the purchase was for a computer or electronic equipment instead of a television.

Police also determined that the Olympus purchase orders indicated that items had been shipped to Olympus, but a review of Dell purchase orders showed that items had been shipped to people throughout the country.

Police reviewed Olympus invoices and purchases from Dell and determined that in February 2011, 36 37-inch Vizio HD televisions had been purchased.

Pochron obtained a search warrant for eBay and PayPal records that showed that eBay user ID “benandem98” was registered to Wilson in Katy, Texas.  A former address listed on the account was Wilson’s previous address in Jim Thorpe.

Pochron reviewed eBay and PayPal lists of all eBay listings by user “benandem98” from August 2007 through July 2011. The listing contained numerous Vizio and Panasonic televisions. Further reviews of Dell invoices showed that the majority of those items had been shipped to winning bidders for the eBay auction listing for user “benandem98.” Several items had been shipped to Wilson’s former home in Jim Thorpe and to Wilson at Olympus.

Pochron reviewed bank records and determined that transfers from Wilson’s PayPal account were deposited into his bank account.