Two Houston men were charged with stealing more than $1 million worth of wages from DoorDash delivery workers and spending the money on luxury vehicles, vacations, and more.
United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and FBI special agent in charge Robert K. Tripp announced the indictment by a federal grand jury of Oluwatobi Emmanuel Otukelu and Evan Jordan Edwards, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California press release on Oct. 21.The two are accused of stealing the DoorDash wages of at least 138 Dashers—the independent contractors who deliver groceries, takeout, and more for the delivery app—across six states. They allegedly sent approximately $1 million to their own personal accounts.
Otukelu, 25, and Edwards, 24, were each charged with conspiracy and causing damage to a computer as part of an alleged scheme dating back to January 2022.
They made their first appearance in federal court in Houston, Texas, and Otukelu later appeared in Oakland, California.
The duo allegedly acquired personal identifying information (PII) of drivers and then impersonated them to DoorDash support, claiming they had lost access to the accounts.
The indictment alleges that Otukelu and Edwards obtained stolen information, including phone numbers, dates of birth, recent transaction histories, and even the last four digits of their driver’s licenses. The information was obtained from other unknown conspirators.
“As a further part of the scheme to defraud, the co-conspirators recruited and attempted to recruit DoorDash customer service personnel to join this scheme to help obtain Dashers’ PII and to make changes to Dasher accounts,” according to the indictment.
Otukelu also allegedly attempted to change a driver’s personal banking information, including fulfilling ‘selfie verification’ requests.
“Co-conspirators tried to circumvent DoorDash heightened security practices by electronically transmitting their own photographs in response to verification requests,” the indictment states.
Once support let Otukelu and Edwards into the account, they changed the passwords to lock out the victims, court documents say. The two also allegedly created new, fake accounts with drivers’ personal data and siphoned stolen funds into their own accounts.
The defendants, both residents of Houston, then used the ill-gotten gains to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a loan for a Mercedes C300 convertible, airline tickets, cosmetic procedures, and personal training, the indictment states.
A spokesperson for DoorDash told The Epoch Times that the company’s anti-fraud team detected the scheme and alerted the FBI, which then worked closely with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the arrests.
During the course of the scheme, DoorDash implemented new security features that stopped Otukelu and Edwards. The DoorDash representative could not confirm whether the new features were in response to the alleged fraud.
“Once we placed the heightened security practices, the defendants were not able to circumvent them,” said the spokesperson, who noted that all affected drivers were reimbursed.
Authorities arrested Otukelu and Edwards in Houston on Sept. 26 and they made their first court appearances on the same day.
Otukelu is represented by Attorney Gregory Charles Gladden, whose law office is based in Houston. Edwards is represented by a federal public defender in Houston.
