BRISTOL - Bristol police have charged a former city man with defrauding AT&T, his then-employer, out of more than $50,000 through a scheme in which numerous cell phone sales were faked and the devices were sold in New York.
Aroob Khan, 29, currently of Newington, allegedly falsified the sales of 62 iPhones, tying them to nearly a dozen fake accounts linked to his former Bristol address, an apartment on Farmington Avenue, and found a buyer for the stolen devices through Ebay, according to the warrant for his arrest.
Khan faces one count of first-degree larceny - a felony.
AT&T, which reported a total loss of $55,044 attributed to Khan, was made aware of the scam after receiving an anonymous call on April 18 about Khan, who had worked for the company since 2013, according to the warrant. When asked five days later by an AT&T investigator to do an interview, Khan, a mobile sales rep, “resigned immediately,” handing his identification and work vehicle keys to his manager before leaving the building, the warrant said.
A Bristol detective was assigned to the investigation on May 2 and was able to speak with Khan later that month at his Newington home. He agreed to cooperate, saying there were numerous other people in the company who were scamming AT&T, according to the warrant. Because of this, Khan told police, he felt that honest employees were losing out on sales commissions.
Khan told police this led to him conning AT&T out of 62 cell phones, between March and April, using a transaction code that allowed him to sell the phone for nothing, according to the warrant. The phones were tied to phony accounts that were registered to Khan’s old address in Bristol.
Khan also admitted to police that he found a buyer for the phones on Ebay, although he decided not to sell them through the website and instead met the man in New York on four occasions, bringing several phones with him each time, the warrant continued. He told police he was paid between $400 and 500 for the first phone he sold, when the man asked if he could get more of them.
Khan told police the buyer did not pay him for the last 21 phones he sold.
During the investigation, an attorney representing Khan contacted police and said his client was still willing to cooperate, and that he wished to pay AT&T restitution.
According to the warrant, AT&T still wanted Khan arrested. He was not charged until over the weekend, when he posted $5,000 bond.
Khan is scheduled to be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court on Aug. 27.
Posted in Newington Town Crier, Newington News on Thursday, 9 August 2018 15:43. Updated: Thursday, 9 August 2018 15:46.