A woman who was convicted earlier this year for stealing nearly half a million dollars from Microsoft has now received a sentence from the court. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that Manyvone Phanhsiry will now be spending four years in a federal prison for the crime. After she gets out of prison she will still have three additional years under federal supervision. She admitted that she took debit cards paid for by Microsoft and used them on herself instead of giving them to Microsoft interns for housing.
While working for Cartus Corp under a contract for Microsoft, Phanhsiry ordered over 150 of these debit cards that had between $2,500 to $5,000 each in money from Microsoft. The total amount came to $457,000. The cards were in the names of the interns that came to the Seattle area to work at Microsoft. However, Phanhsiry decided to use the cards for herself. She paid for several cars, cosmetic surgery, trips to Las Vegas and even her own wedding with the debit cards. Her theft was discovered when one of those Microsoft interns got a tax statement for the debit card made out in his name by Phanhsiry.
Phanhsiry was fired by Cartus Corp after the truth was discovered, but to make matters worse she filed for an unemployment claim, telling the government that she was laid off rather than terminated. She received $53,500 in unemployment funds until the government found out the truth. Cartus Corp said that her actions also threatened the company with a shut down if they had lost its contract with Microsoft.