July 02, 2025
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
Kwan Woo Lee, 29, of Wyncote, allegedly defrauded Seagate Technology by purchasing hard drives from the company using prepaid cards and then submitting false warranty claims for replacement devices. Lee allegedly obtained more than 400 hard drives and resold dozens, costing the tech company $250,000, prosecutors say.
A Montgomery County man bought $250,000 worth of computer hard drives to file false warranty claims with the manufacturer and resell dozens of the storage devices on the secondary market, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General said Wednesday.
For more than a year, Wyncote resident Kwan Woo Lee, 29, allegedly purchased hard drives online from Seagate Technology and had them mailed to 18 different addresses in Montgomery and Butler counties.
After receiving the hardware in the mail, Lee would submit fraudulent warranties to the tech company to have replacements sent to him. The company's warranty policy requires broken devices to be returned or else the full value of the replacement is charged, but Lee allegedly got around this by using prepaid cards.
Investigators found 30 instances of fraudulent returns Lee made on transactions completed with prepaid cards, which prevented Seagate Technology from billing him when the supposedly broken hard drives were not mailed back to the company, prosecutors said.
In total, Lee allegedly received more than 400 hard drives from Seagate Technologies. Investigators did not say how Seagate, whose U.S. headquarters are based in California, became aware of the alleged fraud or when it was reported to police.
Investigators were able to identify Lee using email addresses and phone numbers connected to the warranty claims.
Lee is charged with corrupt organizations, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, access device fraud and related offenses. He was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and bail was set at $50,000 ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 10.
