Cisco SMARTnet swindler pleads guilty

A US IT contractor has pleaded guilty to fiddling Cisco out of $6.9m through placing bogus orders on SMARTnet.

Michael Kyereme, who worked as a freelance contractor for the city of Newark in New Jersey, was arrested last year with a stash of stolen Cisco kit worth $3m.

It is understood that Kyereme placed fake orders for replacement kit on SMARTnet under the terms of an ‘Advanced Replacement’ deal between Cisco and the city government. He then sold the replacement parts on to an unnamed reseller and returned parts of lesser value to Cisco, pocketing the difference himself.

US Attorney Christopher Christie told reporters that Kyereme faces up to 25 years behind bars and a fine of $350,000.