Shelton man pleads guilty to defrauding Amazon

Shelton resident Oshane Stewart pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from his fraud against Amazon.com Inc.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Stewart created multiple vendor accounts with Amazon allowing him to sell merchandise through the website on a third-party basis. Stewart was accused of opening accounts with false names and contact data represented to Amazon that he was shipping it valuable merchandise to be held for sale by the company. In reality, he would not ship the merchandise, and would later falsely claim that it had been lost, supporting his false claims with fabricated documents. Amazon sent Stewart a series of refunds for the purportedly lost merchandise.

Stewart, who admitted that his actions cost Amazon approximately $742,231.16, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He is released on bond pending his Jan. 23 sentencing.

Stewart is the third individual to plead guilty in connection with this scheme ”“ his brother Kenoy Stewart pleaded guilty last February and admitted that his conduct resulted in a loss to Amazon exceeding $1 million, and Rajhni Yankana also pleaded guilty in August; both await sentencing.