A former Sony employee swindled the company out of $750,000 by having a pal pretend he was entitled to royalties for about 200 obscure songs from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, sources told The Post.
Xavier Guzman, 30, who worked in the company’s Manhattan headquarters and is now an MTA conductor, schemed with maintenance worker Daniel Lachica, 32, to steal the money by applying for the royalties, the sources said.
After splitting the proceeds from their scam, the men took lavish vacations and bought expensive duds, sources said.
The fraudsters launched their scam in 2009 after Guzman had been working for Sony for nine years, according to sources.
“He knew the ins and outs of the place very well, so when Lachica applied for the royalties for these songs, Guzman was able to push it through and get Sony to cut the checks,” a source said.
Last year, Sony officials stumbled upon the fraud as they were conducting an internal audit after their computer system was hacked in protest of the controversial film “The Interview.”
Both men were arrested Nov. 4 on charges of grand larceny and money laundering.