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September 7, 2021

Yale worker charged in theft of more than $30M in hardware scheme

PHOTO | Courtesy Yale School of Medicine Yale School of Medicine
By Liese Klein

Authorities have charged a Yale Medical School employee with stealing more than $30 million from the university by buying computer hardware for her department, selling the goods and keeping the money.

Jamie Petrone-Codrington, 41, of Naugatuck, has been charged with fraud and money laundering in the case, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle.

Petrone-Codrington surrendered to law enforcement in New Haven on Friday and was released on a $1 million bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector.

According to the complaint, Petrone-Codrington, beginning in 2013, began ordering millions of dollars of computer hardware from Yale vendors using Yale funds. When the hardware arrived, she loaded the computers into her Range Rover SUV and shipped them to a New York business for resale. The purchaser of the hardware then wired funds into an account controlled by Petrone-Codrington.

Thousands of purchase orders totaling about $30 million were submitted by the accused since 2018, according to the complaint. Many of the purchases were iPads and Surface Pro tablet computers, totaling more than 8,000 units. Between May 27 and Aug. 19 of this year alone, Petrone-Codrington ordered $2.1 million in computer equipment; investigators are currently evaluating the status of those purchases. 

Petrone-Codrington was employed as the director of finance and administration for the medical school’s Department of Emergency Medicine and was authorized to make purchases without approval up to $10,000. She is accused of breaking up the fraudulent purchases into orders below the $10,000 threshold to avoid detection and falsifying internal records to hide the transactions. 

Petrone-Codrington admitted to the scheme, according to the complaint, and estimated that about 90% of her purchases at Yale were fraudulent. 

Both the FBI and the Yale Police Department are investigating the charges, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick.

Mail fraud charges carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; wire fraud, 20 years, and money laundering, 10 years.

Attorney Frank Riccio of Bridgeport, who is representing Petrone-Codrington, could not be reached for comment.

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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