Delta ticketing specialist gave out free flight tickets, feds say. Airline lost $447K
A Delta Air Lines employee gave out free flight tickets to family, friends and others, causing the company to lose $447,000 in revenue, federal officials said.
The man took advantage of his job as a ticketing specialist, booked over 230 flight reservations and overrode their fares in Delta’s system in Minneapolis, prosecutors said.
Delta wasn’t compensated for the free tickets, but he was, prosecutors said. The man had travelers pay him for the tickets through the Square payment app, according to an indictment.
Now the former Delta employee, 36, of Minneapolis, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced in a March 10 news release.
He “exploited his position of trust at Delta to enrich himself by selling fraudulent tickets,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement. “He was even bold enough to use his personal email address as the contact person for some of the illegal transactions.”
McClatchy News contacted the man’s attorney for comment and didn’t immediately receive a response.
The free flight tickets were given out from late 2016 through December 2017, officials said. These tickets were linked to his unique agent security identifier, according to prosecutors.
“We appreciate the efforts of law enforcement in this case to hold those who would defraud Delta accountable,” Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant told McClatchy News in a statement.
Free tickets caused a ‘tax liability to Delta’
By issuing the Delta flight tickets at no cost, the man generated taxes that needed to be paid, the indictment says.
He unsuccessfully tried taking care of the taxes by creating fake Transportation Credit Vouchers and Delta Travel Vouchers to pay them, according to the indictment. This created a “tax liability to Delta,” prosecutors said.
With his access to Delta’s ticketing system, the man had the system issue these vouchers “without a valid business purpose and without authorization,” the indictment says.
Because these vouchers were fake, however, Delta ultimately had to pay the taxes on the free flight tickets, according to the indictment.
“With this guilty plea, (he) acknowledges his criminal wrongdoing and can now be held accountable for his selfish actions,” Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement.
The man is due back in court for sentencing on June 7, officials said.
The FBI is investigating the case, according to the release.
The company is headquartered in Atlanta.
Passengers pry man out of headlock during brawl on Southwest flight, video shows
United jet plunges to 775 feet over ocean after Hawaii takeoff, flight data shows
Flight attendant feared she’d be fired for removing mask to use inhaler, lawsuit says