BALTIMORE (February 8, 2011) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Albert Allotey, 33, of Odenton, pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft, one count of attempted felony theft, and one count of identity fraud. Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge William C. Mulford, II, sentenced Allotey to 108 days in jail on each count with the sentences to run concurrently.
In October 2010, the Attorney General’s Criminal Division was contacted by representatives of Lenovo Corporation Ltd., a computer company in Morrisville, North Carolina. The company had received a suspicious procurement order, purportedly from an individual at the Maryland Department of General Services, for the purchase of more than $29,000 in computer equipment. Working with the company and UPS Security, Maryland State Police set up a sting operation to determine who had impersonated the procurement officer and placed the fraudulent order. Officers arrested Allotey after he accepted the stolen property at his residence. A search warrant of his residence yielded documents containing specific information regarding the transaction. Allotey told investigators that he had intended to ship the computers to a contact back home in Ghana.
The conviction follows a joint investigation by the Attorney General’s Criminal Division, the Maryland State Police and United Parcel Service’s Security Division. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorneys General Kate O’Donnell and Megan Davey Limarzi for their work on the case.
Source: Office of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler