A high-ranking former technology employee at Takeda Pharmaceutical’s US headquarters in Massachusetts and her boyfriend were arrested Wednesday on federal charges for allegedly setting up a fake consulting firm that defrauded the Japanese drug giant of about $2.3 million.
Priya Bhambi, 39, who was fired in November after an internal investigation, and Samuel N. Montronde, 37, both of Boston, weren’t very careful about covering their tracks in the scheme, according an FBI agent’s affidavit.
In a series of text messages the two exchanged last January, Bhambi said she had “put some wheels in motion to pursuit [sic] a small hustle….I can’t be the face of it though.” Montronde replied, “We become millionaires and we retire babe.” Bhambi responded, “I feel a bit like Geppetto, lol….Although I am not calling you a puppet.”
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