How a man defrauded Time Warner Cable out of nearly $1 million - and how he was sentenced

Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read

The investigation into a man whose companies didn't pay Time Warner Cable for nearly $1 million in services began in 2016.

Time Warner investigators identified four companies that hadn't paid for the services. The names were suspiciously similar:

  • Davidson and Davidson Construction LLP.

  • Davidson and Davidson LLP.

  • Davidson Construction LLC.

  • Davidson LLC.

All had received services from Time Warner at the same address on East Fifth Street in Downtown Cincinnati.

According to court documents, each account had been opened for approximately 90 days – the maximum amount of time before Time Warner would terminate an account for nonpayment. Then, shortly after termination, the accounts would be reopened under a slightly different company name.

Time Warner investigators went to the East Fifth Street address to speak with the man connected to each company, "Mike Davidson," and retrieve routers and cable equipment.

A receptionist at the office had never heard of a man by that name, court documents say, but told investigators that the office was leased by Rishi Sharma − who turned out to be at the center of the fraud.

Sharma was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Cincinnati.

68 accounts

While sorting through the routers and cable equipment, investigators found equipment linked to 10 other Time Warner accounts also connected to Sharma. Law enforcement got involved, and Cincinnati police identified numerous other accounts at other addresses leased by Sharma that appeared to follow the same pattern.

In total, authorities identified 68 accounts at addresses in Cincinnati, Springdale, Dayton, Beavercreek as well as Brooklyn, New York, and Buffalo, New York. The accounts were registered between 2015 and 2016.

The total cost of services never paid was $927,319.

At Tuesday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett ordered Sharma to pay that amount in restitution to the cable company. Time Warner was acquired by Charter Communications in 2016.

Sharma appears by video

Sharma, 33, who lives in Florida and is undergoing medical treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, appeared by video for the hearing. He told Barrett that the case should serve as a warning against trying “to outsmart anyone for personal gain.”

“My plan is to never return as criminal defendant to a courtroom, ever again,” Sharma said.

Sharma has lived in Florida as well as the Czech Republic. He left the United States in 2015 and was arrested in September 2018 at Orlando International Airport, after returning from Europe.

He was indicted in 2019 and in 2021 pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

In addition to restitution, Barrett sentenced Sharma to three years of supervision by federal probation.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rishi Sharma sentence: Did not pay Time Warner Cable nearly $1 million