HUPD Arrests University Employee

UPDATED: February 16, 2015, at 2:11 a.m.

The Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) last week arrested a University employee who they say tried to fraudulently obtain 12 computers using a stolen purchasing code.

Manoj Viswanathan, 21, of Greenville, N.C., is charged with one count of forgery, one count of improper use of a credit card over $250, and one count of larceny over $250. He faces up to six years in prison and a possible fine.

At some point in the last week of April, police say, Viswanathan allegedly stole a purchasing code from an economics department office in Littauer Center.

Using that code, he ordered 12 laptop computers, totaling more than $18,000 in value, from the Technology Product Center (TPC) at 175 N. Harvard St. in Allston. When he went to pick them up, TPC staff told him he needed a Harvard I.D.

Police discovered the fraud when Viswanathan didn't return immediately and TPC contacted the rightful owner of the billing code to ask why he wasn't picking up the computers.

When the code's owner told TPC that he didn't order any computers, HUPD began to investigate.

Police quickly determined that they would wait for to return and try to pick up the merchandise.

Last Thursday morning, the police allege that Viswanathan made a second attempt to pick up the computers, this time presenting an I.D. that had been stolen from the Malkin Athletic Center. TPC allowed Viswanathan to sign for the computers using the false name on the I.D.

"A decision was made to allow him to sign on the dotted line and exit the building with the computers," said Peggy A. McNamara, the HUPD spokesperson.

Waiting outside TPC were HUPD officers, who arrested Viswanathan.

Administrators in the Office of the General Counsel said Viswanathan had been suspended from his job without pay.

Viswanathan had been working as a casual employee in the FAS information technology division.

He has been issued a verbal trespass warning, barring him from appearing on campus, McNamara said.

Viswanathan was arraigned in Suffolk County District Court in Brighton last week, and will face a court date in early June.

The Suffolk Country District Attorney's office did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Middlesex District Court records show Viswanathan was arrested in 1998 for operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Update: February 16, 2015

Two of three charges against Viswanathan in this case were dismissed. The third, for credit card fraud, was filed without change of plea and thus was not prosecuted. Similarly, all charges filed against Viswanathan in 1998 for operating an uninsured motor vehicle were dismissed.