The US law firm in the County of Oregon says a former Nike has taken a number of steps to defraud the company by nearly $ 1.5 million over a two-year period.
Errol Amorin Andam is accused of bank fraud, money laundering and making false statements about a loan application, according to a press release. Andam, who worked at the brand from 2001 until his resignation in 2018, was last a North American retail brand marketing manager, a position in which he was in charge of setting up promotional pop-up events. The FBI says Andam used these events to carry out his fraud plan.
As of the summer of 2016, Andam is said to have hired a childhood friend as an independent contractor to help build the pop-ups. Unbeknownst to Nike, Andam was financially involved in his friend’s business and would send invoices to the brand through a false name, Frank Little.
During the pop-up events, Andam allegedly purchased Square credit card sales through a reader for his friend’s company, telling both Nike and his friend that the charge was a fee for the amount Nike owed for the build-outs. Instead, Andam would keep the money to himself and bill Nike for the full amounts under the name Frank Little.
Andam is said to have used a defunct LLC as a shell company to channel the nearly $ 1.5 million in Nike proceeds to his accounts. The costs of applying for a loan relate to an attempt in July 2018 to obtain a home mortgage. He is now facing 30 years in prison with fines of $ 4.5 million.
Nike made the following statement on the matter: “Nike’s internal investigation team discovered Mr. Andam’s activity in 2017 and after he was fired from the company, we turned the evidence over to the US attorney. It’s a shame that Mr. Andam, who had a job that gave him access to some of the most exciting events in the sports world, chose to abuse the trust Nike placed in him. We would like to thank the US Attorney for his efforts in this case. “