Former Omaha Restaurant Manager Sentenced for Wire Fraud

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Robert Giardina, 39, who most recently resided in Florida, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, by Senior United States District Judge Laurie Smith Camp to 30 months’ imprisonment for Wire Fraud. There is no parole in the federal system. Giardina was also ordered to pay $30,075.16 in restitution. After his release from prison, Giardina will have to serve a 3-year term of supervised release.

On July 24, 2017, Giardina was hired to be an Area Manager for a multi-branded restaurant management company based in Manhattan, Kansas to run three fast food franchise locations in the Omaha metropolitan area. Giardina used his brother’s information to pass a background check in the hiring process and to complete an I-9 and W-4. These three franchise locations utilized Aloha Point-of-Sale EDC software, which uses the internet to process credit card transactions. From on or about October 24, 2017, to June 5, 2018, Giardina initiated and completed approximately 275 fraudulent credit card refunds from the three franchise locations that he managed in the Omaha area. These fraudulent refunds that Giardina initiated were done so over an interstate wire and caused for funds from Victim Company’s bank account in Equity Bank in Kansas to be refunded to eight of Giardina’s personal credit cards. Giardina had not made purchases eligible for refunds and therefore each false refund to his personal credit cards involved no sales transactions forming the basis for the purported refunds. As a result of these activities, Giardina fraudulently obtained $30,075.16.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General and the Omaha Police Department.