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The former delivery driver pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2.5 million from Doordash, a San Francisco-based food delivery company, and conspiring with several others, federal prosecutors said.
Saiye Chaitanya Lady Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on May 13, according to the California Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors said Devagiri has allowed him to work with three other people and former Doordash employees on a fraud scheme targeting the company between 2020 and 2021.
According to the prosecutors, the group had Doardash pay for delivery that did not occur. Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in fraudulent payments of more than $2.5 million.
Devagiri was arrested and charged along with Manaswi Mandadapu, 29. Matheus Duarte, 29; Hari Vamsi Anne, 30, in October 2024, according to prosecutors. All four were charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Mandadap pleaded guilty to the charges on May 6, according to prosecutors. Duarte and Anne previously pleaded not guilty and were scheduled to appear in court on July 22, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn, a former Doordash employee involved in the scheme, was charged with another indictment in September 2022 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in November 2023, according to prosecutors.
Devagiri is expected to appear in court for a status hearing on September 16, prosecutors said. He faces a maximum 20-year legal penalty and a $250,000 fine in prison.
Unauthorized accounts, manipulated Doordash software
Doordash provides food delivery services to customers ordering from the platform. Drivers who work for the company will meet those orders by picking up items ordered from restaurants and other merchants and delivering them to customers.
According to the indictment sealed in October 2024, the group cooperated between November 2020 and February 2021. During that period, Devagiri, along with Mandadapu, Duarte and Anne, created multiple fraudulent customer and driver accounts accused.
The group used fraudulent customer accounts to place “high value” orders from restaurants in Northern California, including Santa Clara County, according to the charges. We then used our employee credentials to access Doordash’s computer systems and software.
The indictment further alleged that the group uses computer systems to manually reassign orders placed by fraudulent customer accounts to driver accounts. Prosecutors said Devagiri reported it was delivered when no orders were provided to his driver account, and that he would operate the software to prompt Doordash to pay for a delivery that never occurred to his driver account.
Devagiri also used Doordash software to change orders from “full” status to “process” status and reassign orders to driver accounts controlled by the group according to the charges. Prosecutors said Devagiri had repeated the process.
In total, the group stole over $2.5 million and received payments through bank accounts managed by Duarte’s Devagiri Mandadapu and Anne.
According to the indictment, the group accessed the software using credentials belonging to Bottenhorn, a resident of Solano County, California. He worked temporarily at Doordash in 2020. After pleading guilty in 2023, prosecutors said they had admitted that Bottenhorn was involved in a plot to fraud the company.
Prosecutors said Devagiri Mandadapu, Duarte and Anne were all arrested on October 4, 2024. Devagiri and Mandadapu were taken into custody in Newport Beach and later released on bonds. Duarte was arrested at Mountain House, California and released on bonds.
Prosecutors said Anne was arrested in Cypress, Texas, and was taken into custody in Houston as further cases are pending.
