29 April 2017•Update: 29 April 2017
By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
Google and Facebook admitted Friday that the two companies were scammed out of a total of $100 million by one Lithuanian man between 2013 and 2015.
The Department of Justice first charged the man, Evaldas Rimasauskas, 48, last month, but Rimasauskas’ two victims were not identified until a report came out Thursday in Fortune that was later confirmed by the companies.
“We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. “We recouped the funds and we're pleased this matter is resolved.”
Neither companies revealed exactly how the money was recouped.
“Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation,” Facebook said in a statement.
The case reveals that even leading Silicon Valley giants can be tricked by scammers. Rimasauskas impersonated Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese technology supplier. By faking invoices and other forms, Rimasauskas received millions of dollars.
Rimasauskas was arrested in Lithuania last month and is in the process of being extradited to the United States for trial. On March 21, federal prosecutors filed charges of wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft. In total, the charges carry a maximum sentence of 82 years in prison.
