Offshore Wind Employee in RI Sentenced for Defrauding Company Out of $158K

Offshore Wind Employee in RI Sentenced for Defrauding Company Out of $158K

United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha announced Tuesday that a specialist previously employed at the Rhode Island office of an international company that specializes in building and operating offshore and onshore wind and solar projects has been sentenced to federal prison.

Alfred Appiah, 35, of Pawtucket was sentenced by Senior United States Judge William G. Young to seven months of incarceration in federal prison to be followed three months of home confinement and one year of federal supervised release. 

His sentence is to be followed by a term of home confinement and supervised release, for defrauding the company out of more than $158,000 through the fraudulent use of a company credit card.

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According to his LinkedIn profile, Appiah had been employed full time at Ørsted.

Additionally, Appiah was ordered to pay restitution totaling $158,850.43 to his former employer.

 

About Case 

In pleading guilty on February 21, 2024, to three counts of wire fraud, Appiah admitted that during a span of six months beginning in June 2021, he made more than 600 unauthorized purchases using a company credit card to pay for personal expenses and services such as airline travel and lodging, clothing, beauty shops, laundry services, at grocery and liquor stores, for amusement park and movie theater fees, live event tickets, real estate management, insurance payments, child support payments, telecommunication services, and equipment rentals.

According to the U.S. Attorney, at no time did Appiah provide an accounting to his employer for any personal expenses, nor did he make remedial payments to the company.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr; the matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.