The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Oregon says a former longtime Nike took several steps to defraud the company of nearly $1.5 million over a two-year period.
According to a press release, Errol Amorin Andam is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements on a loan application. Andam, who worked at the brand from 2001 until he was terminated in 2018, was most recently a North American retail brand marketing manager, a position that put him in charge of setting up promotional pop-up events. The feds say Andam used these events to carry out his fraud scheme.
Beginning in the summer of 2016, Andam is said to have hired a childhood friend as an independent contractor to help with the build outs of the pop-ups. Unbeknownst to Nike, Andam was financially involved in his friend’s company and would send invoices to the brand through a fake name, Frank Little.
During the pop-up events, Andam allegedly took Square credit card sales through a reader for his friend’s company, telling both Nike and his friend that the charges were reimbursement for the amount Nike owed for the build outs. Instead, Andam would allegedly keep the money for himself, invoicing Nike for the full amounts under the name Frank Little.
Andam is said to have used a defunct LLC as a shell company to funnel the nearly $1.5 million in Nike’s proceeds into his accounts. The loan application charge is related to a July 2018 attempt to secure a residential mortgage loan. He’s now facing up to 30 years in federal prison with fines of as much as $4.5 million.
Nike issued the following statement on the matter: “Nike’s internal investigation team uncovered Mr. Andam’s activity in 2017 and, after he was terminated from the company, we turned over the evidence to the U.S. Attorney. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Andam, who had a job that allowed him access to some of the most exciting events in the world of sport, chose to abuse the trust that Nike put in him. We want to thank the U.S. Attorney for its efforts on this case.”
