Atlanta federal trial details alleged $10 million Amazon fraud scheme tied to warehouse employees and contractor

Case centers on invoices, vendor approvals and alleged laundering of millions

A federal criminal trial underway in Atlanta is publicly airing new details of an alleged conspiracy that prosecutors say diverted nearly $10 million from Amazon through a fake-vendor and fictitious-invoice scheme tied to the company’s metro Atlanta operations. The case involves multiple defendants, including former Amazon employees and an Atlanta-area contractor who has pleaded not guilty and is the only defendant to take the case to trial.

Prosecutors allege Amazon paid about $9.4 million after invoices were submitted for vendors that did not provide goods or services. The alleged activity described in court filings and prior plea proceedings centers on internal processes used to add vendors and approve invoice payments.

Roles alleged in the scheme

In earlier court proceedings, investigators and prosecutors laid out an alleged structure in which an Amazon operations manager at a Smyrna-area facility had authority to approve new vendors and invoice payments and used that authority to facilitate payments to accounts controlled by alleged co-conspirators. The government has alleged that other participants provided personal identifying information to populate vendor records, and that additional Amazon personnel were involved in approving or supporting the disputed transactions.

• Kayricka Wortham, a former Amazon operations manager, pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced in 2023 to 16 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution, and forfeiture orders covered seized funds and assets.
• Brittany Hudson, an Atlanta-area contractor linked to a delivery business that worked with Amazon, is charged in the case and has denied the allegations. The current trial focuses on her role and the government’s claim that she participated in receiving and moving proceeds from the alleged fraud.
• Demetrius Hines and Laquettia Blanchard, both former Amazon employees, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in separate proceedings. Hines had not been sentenced at the time details of the current trial were reported; Blanchard was sentenced in 2023 to a short prison term and supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution.
• JaQuan Frazier and Darrel Burgo also entered guilty pleas in related proceedings and received sentences that included restitution orders.

Separate forgery allegations and an unusual witness list

Court records also describe a separate set of allegations involving forged court documents and financial statements during a 2023 effort to secure a franchise deal for a Midtown hookah lounge concept. Wortham later entered a guilty plea in 2025 to a charge tied to forging a federal judge’s signature, with sentencing expected in 2026. In the ongoing trial, the judge whose signature was allegedly forged is expected to testify.

The trial is expected to test the government’s claims about how vendor controls were bypassed, how money moved through accounts, and what each participant knew and intended.

The case remains active, and the defendant on trial is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.