CHONGQING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 9: In this photo illustration, the DoorDash logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in front of a stock chart illustrating DoorDash's financial performance, food delivery service trends, gig economy developments, and global market activity on February 9, 2025, in Chongqing, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
San Francisco, California – Federal prosecutors announced that a former DoorDash delivery driver has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a sophisticated fraud scheme that defrauded the San Francisco-based delivery giant of more than $2.5 million.
Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charge stems from a widespread scheme in 2020 and 2021, when Devagiri and three co-conspirators manipulated DoorDash’s internal systems to collect payouts for food deliveries that never occurred.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Devagiri exploited his position as a delivery driver and used stolen employee credentials to gain access to DoorDash’s internal software. He then used legitimate customer accounts to place high-value food orders. Once customers placed their orders, he manually reassigned them to driver accounts he and his co-conspirators controlled. The group falsely reported the orders as delivered, prompting the company’s system to automatically issue payments to their accounts.
But the fraud didn’t stop there. Prosecutors say Devagiri would then reset the order status back to “in process” and reassign it to another controlled account, creating an automated loop of nonexistent deliveries and unauthorized payments. According to court filings, the process often took less than five minutes and was repeated hundreds of times.
The scheme ran over several months and resulted in fraudulent payouts exceeding $2.5 million.
Devagiri is the third person to be convicted in connection with the conspiracy. His co-defendant, Manaswi Mandadapu, pleaded guilty to the same charge on May 6, 2025. Another co-conspirator, Tyler Thomas Bottenhorn, admitted his involvement and pleaded guilty in November 2023. A fourth individual involved, believed to be a DoorDash employee, also pleaded guilty last year.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani announced the plea, emphasizing the seriousness of cyber-enabled fraud and the ongoing efforts by federal authorities to prosecute it.
Devagiri is scheduled to return to court for a status hearing before Judge Beth Labson Freeman on September 16. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He will be sentenced per federal sentencing guidelines and judicial discretion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael G. Pitman is prosecuting the case, with assistance from Sahib Kaur. The FBI led the investigation.
