Fraudster deposited the money into two accounts of her own

Mar 9, 2015 16:10 GMT  ·  By

In little more than one year, a former employee at Amazon stole $18,260 / €16,830 from gift cards she issued, leaving customers with useless vouchers; the money was transferred to two accounts which have been found to be almost empty.

23-year-old Amanda Budurka worked at an Amazon fulfillment office in West Pittston and was caught after Martin Rakaczewski, loss prevention manager, was notified that customers complained about their gift cards not being accepted into the system or having no credit attached.

Hundreds of gift cards defrauded

Burduka started the fraudulent operation since around Christmas 2013 when she heard from a fellow employee that the gift cards could not be traced. However, the vouchers were issued by herself, so she became the prime suspect.

Sheila Hamm, Amazon investigator, contacted Martin Rakaczewski on February 23, after receiving the customer complaints.

During the investigation it was discovered that the funds of 315 cards had been stolen from Amazon accounts opened by Burduka.

When confronted by Rakaczewski, the former employee admitted to the fraud and provided a signed statement accounting the deeds.

The money is almost all gone

Upon checking the two accounts, it was discovered that one of them had around $670 / €616 and the other less than $3 / €2. At the moment, the fraudster is free on $5,000 / €4,600 unsecured bail and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for March 25.

Amazon gift cards can be used when purchasing different products at the worldwide retailer. Their value can be of up to $2,000 / €1,840 and customers can offer them as a birthday present or for any other event.

If a purchase does not require all the funds, the money is deducted and the rest can be used for further shopping. Alternatively, if a purchase exceeds the value of the gift card, a different payment method is required to cover the costs.