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Fired manager for Best Buy accused of kickback deals
He allegedly received packages stuffed with cash and gift cards for his role in overbilling his company $31 million.
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A former Best Buy vendor-relations manager is accused of taking kickbacks from a computer-parts supplier for his role in a scheme that illegally overcharged the Richfield-based company $31 million in a four-year period, according to felony charges filed Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
Robert Paul Bossany, 37, of Prior Lake, was charged with one count each of conspiracy and money laundering after federal authorities said he received cash, checks and gift cards from an unnamed computer-parts supply company he was hired to oversee.
That company, which sources identified as Deerfield, Ill.-based Chip Factory Inc., routinely underbid prices on an online business-to-business auction site, which also was not named in court documents. After placing the lowest bid on the auction site, Chip Factory would be rewarded the contract for parts, which court documents say it didn't even have. Chip Factory then would charge Best Buy eight to 10 times the bid amount, according to sources.
Neither Chip Factory nor the company that ran the auction parts procurement website have been charged. But 32 documents remain sealed in the case, and further charges are possible.
The scheme occurred between 2003 and 2007. During that time, Chip Factory invoiced Best Buy $60 million for computer parts -- about half of it fraudulently, according to the charges. It is unclear from court documents how much money Bossany allegedly received.
Court documents say that Chip Factory sent weekly Federal Express and UPS packages to Bossany's home that contained magazines or CD or DVD containers stuffed with cash, checks or gift cards.
Bossany has been charged with criminal information, which could indicate he is cooperating with authorities to reach a plea agreement. A hearing is set for Jan. 22.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection service, the IRS criminal investigative division and the FBI after Best Buy began an investigation of its own about a year ago. Employees at Best Buy, the nation's biggest electronics retailer, as well as the online site had questioned the high prices being charged by Chip Factory, court records show.
A Best Buy spokeswoman said Bossany was fired this fall, and "appropriate disciplinary action" was taken against his managers, some of whom also were fired.
Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335
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