Connecticut

Ex-Yale Employee Admits to Stealing $40 Million in Electronics for Her Own Luxurious Lifestyle

Jamie Petrone, 42, could face up to 23 years in prison among other property seizure

FILE – This Sept. 9, 2016 photo shows Harkness Tower on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
AP Photo

A former employee at Yale University School of Medicine stole $40 million worth of electronics and computer hardware from the university to resell for personal expenses including expensive cars, real estate and travel, according to prosecutors.

Jamie Petrone, 42, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Hartford, Connecticut, to one count of wire fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. Both counts carry maximum terms of imprisonment of 20 years and three years, respectively.

The prosecutors said Petrone’s scheme began as early as 2013, using the school funds to order electronic hardware from Yale vendors and arranging stolen hardware for an out-of-state business in exchange for money.

Petrone was employed by Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine in 2008, and most recently served as the department’s director of finance and administration.

As a part of her job, she could make purchases for departmental needs as long as the amount was below $10,000. Prosecutors stated that the out-of-state business that resold the stolen electronics sent money to a wiring account called Maziv Entertainment LLC, of which Petrone was a principal.

Yale lost $40.5 million in total from Petrone’s actions.

Officials said Petrone also failed to pay taxes on the money she received from the resales, causing a loss of over $6.4 million to the U.S. Department of Treasury. In 2013-16, she falsely filed the returns claiming the costs of the stolen equipment were business expenses.

She was ordered to forfeit $560,421, a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G550, a 2017 Land Rover/Range Rover Sv Autobiography, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade Premium, a 2020 Mercedes Benz Model E450A, a 2016 Cadillac Escalade and a 2018 Dodge Charger. Her three properties in Connecticut and one in Georgia will also be liquidated.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant will sentence Petrone on June 29.

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