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Yale director stole $40M in electronics from the university to buy luxury cars, real estate, and travel — she wasn't caught for almost a decade
Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Yale director stole $40M in electronics from the university to buy luxury cars, real estate, and travel — she wasn't caught for almost a decade

For nearly a decade, 42-year-old Jamie Petrone engaged in a computer and electronics purchase scheme to rob her employer, Yale University School of Medicine, out of tens of millions of dollars without getting caught.

But that all changed this week.

According to a Justice Department news release issued Monday, Petrone pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and filing a false tax return, crimes that carry a combined maximum sentence of 23 years in prison.

In all, she stole more than $40 million in electronics from her employer over the course of eight years and used the money to fund lavish vacations and purchase multiple luxury cars and expensive properties, prosecutors said.

The scheme reportedly started in 2013. At the time, Petrone was employed as the director of finance and administration for the school's Department of Emergency Medicine. In her position, she was authorized to make certain purchases for departmental needs as long as the amounts were below $10,000.

According to prosecutors, Petrone abused her authority and began ordering, or causing others working for her to order, "millions of dollars of electronic hardware from Yale vendors using Yale Med funds." The equipment reportedly included electronic devices such as Microsoft Surface Pro tablets and iPads.

She then "arranged to ship the stolen hardware to an out-of-state business in exchange for money," the release stated.

The former administrator would reportedly break up the fraudulent purchases into orders of under $10,000 in order to bypass additional approval and would have the out-of-state businesses wire money into an account of a company that she operated, called Maziv Entertainment LLC.

In addition to causing $40,504,200 in losses to Yale, Petrone caused a loss of $6,416,618 to the U.S. Treasury by failing to pay taxes on the money she received from selling the stolen equipment.

As a part of her plea, Petrone reportedly agreed to forfeit approximately $560,000 that was seized from the Maziv Entertainment LLC bank account, as well as several luxury vehicles and properties — including a Mercedes-Benz G550, a Land Rover, a Cadillac Escalade Premium, a Mercedes Benz Model E450A, a Cadillac Escalade 4-Door Sport, a Dodge Charger, and three Connecticut properties.

Federal prosecutors noted that another property she owns in Georgia is also subject to seizure and liquidation.

Petrone was arrested in September 2021 but has since been released upon payment of a $1 million bond. She now awaits sentencing scheduled for June 29.

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