PORTLAND, Ore. — A former Snohomish County man faces up to 30 years in prison for a money laundering and fraud scheme that bilked a computer manufacturing company out of nearly $8 million.
Steven Edward Miller, 38, who lived in Everett and Marysville, pleaded guilty to money laundering and mail fraud Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore.
Miller was arrested in November 2007. He had created PDX USA with the supposed intention of providing Internet services. Instead, he devised a scheme to defraud Cisco Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer and seller of computer equipment, according to investigators.
He made false warranty claims to Cisco for replacement parts for computers. Cisco shipped the parts to Miller in Portland and his homes in Everett and Marysville. The company expected Miller would return the defective parts but Miller didn’t have any bad equipment. Instead, once he obtained the new equipment from Cisco he sold the items on the Internet and kept the money, investigators said.
He defrauded the company out of more than $7.9 million.
Miller is expected to be sentenced in February.
The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Unit, along with the assistance from Cisco.
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