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Indian-origin driver pleads guilty to fraud scheme in California
Sayee Chaitanya faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sun, 18, May 2025
- 02:28 EDT
- 0
Stock image. / Pexels
Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, a 30-year-old Indian origin man from Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty in federal court on May 13 to conspiring to defraud food delivery giant DoorDash of more than $2.5 million.
The guilty plea was entered in San Jose before U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman. Devagiri was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and admitted to participating in a scheme in 2020 and 2021 that exploited DoorDash’s internal systems for personal gain.
At the time of the fraud, Devagiri worked as a delivery driver. According to federal prosecutors, he and others used customer accounts to place expensive orders that were never meant to be fulfilled. Using stolen employee credentials, Devagiri accessed DoorDash’s internal software to manually assign these high-value orders to driver accounts he and his co-conspirators controlled.
Once the orders were marked as "delivered"—despite no actual delivery—DoorDash’s systems would automatically pay out to the fraudulent driver accounts. Devagiri then manipulated the order status back to “in process” and reassigned the orders again, repeating the cycle in what prosecutors described as a highly coordinated, rapid process.
“This procedure usually took less than five minutes, and was repeated hundreds of times for many of the orders,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The scheme led to fraudulent payouts that exceeded $2.5 million.
Devagiri is the third person to plead guilty in the case. Co-defendant Manaswi Mandadapu admitted guilt on May 6, while Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn entered a guilty plea in November 2023.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani announced the guilty plea. The investigation was led by the FBI.
Devagiri is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing on Sep. 16, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The final sentence will be determined by the judge after considering federal sentencing guidelines and statutory factors.
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