Triangle Business Journal   Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 5:18pm EDT 

Federal authorities have arrested a Triangle couple for allegedly defrauding Cisco Systems Inc. of more than $23 million.

Mario Easevoli, 33, and his wife, Jennifer Easevoli, 28, were arrested Sept. 28 in Tucson, Ariz. following a joint investigation between the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. A third defendant, Jason Allan Conway, 33, has not yet been arrested.

The three are charged with conspiring to commit mail fraud and conspiring to commit money laundering.

Mario Easevoli founded Synergy Communications Corp., where he served as president and Jennifer Easevoli served as vice president. Conway also worked for the company.

According to a federal grand jury indictment, the three submitted fraudulent claims to Cisco for replacement parts that they then sold on the grey market, depositing the proceeds into a Synergy bank account. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), which has more than 4,000 employees in the Raleigh-Durham area, suffered losses exceeding $23 million due to the alleged fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

“When individuals resort to making their living through fraudulent schemes, all consumers pay the price,” said U.S. Attorney George Holding. “In order for the company to stay in business, they must raise the price of their goods and services to sustain their losses.”

Cisco has a program that allows customers to receive replacement parts immediately without having to return the failed or defective part first. Federal authorities allege that between about January 2003 and July 2005, the defendants instructed Cisco to send replacement parts to mailboxes at UPS stores in eight states. The indictment says they used more than 21 fake company names and 80 fake personal names to obtain those mailboxes.

Conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aiding and abetting mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.

Mario Easevoli was listed as being held at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. Jennifer Easevoli was not listed in the federal inmate database.