SEATTLE (CelebrityAccess) — A former director of Microsoft, who led the company’s sports marketing, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday after he was alleged to have embezzled money from the company and sold $200,000 worth of Super Bowl tickets for personal profit.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Jeff Tran, formerly Director of Sports Marketing and Alliances at Microsoft, faces five counts of wire fraud over allegations that he attempted to embezzle more than $750,000 from Microsoft.
According to the indictment, Tran used his position overseeing the software company’s promotional relationship with the National Football League to issue fraudulent invoices for services related to the 2017 Super Bowl.
The indictment alleges that Tran caused the $775,000 payment from Microsoft to be routed through two Microsoft vendors and then to Tran’s personal bank account. Tran then attempted to cause Microsoft to make a second payment for $670,000, based on another fraudulent invoice.
When the vendors became suspicious and alerted Microsoft, Tran was alleged to have Tran destroyed electronic communications and told the vendors to lie to Microsoft about the $775,000 payment.
The indictment also alleges that Tran stole blocks of Super Bowl tickets belonging to Microsoft that he had access to through his position at the company. Tran was responsible for determining which Microsoft employees would receive Microsoft Super Bowl tickets, but instead sold 60 of the tickets to a broker for more than $200,000, the indictment alleges.
Wire Fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison per count.
