A Walnut Creek, California man who orchestrated a years-long scheme to put a no-show employee on the payroll of Minnesota health services giant Optum was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison this week. Karan Gupta, 48, was sentenced on Monday in Minneapolis after a jury found him guilty in February of 10 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
U.S. District Judge Kate M. Menendez handed down the sentence following a trial that lasted six days, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Gupta worked as a senior director of data analytics at Optum, where he earned more than $260,000 a year at the height of his career, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Prosecutors say he used that position of trust to recruit a lifelong friend for a job that friend would never actually perform.
That friend, 45-year-old Shangraf Kaul of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was hired as a data engineering manager at Optum in late 2015. Federal trial evidence showed that over his nearly four years on the payroll, Kaul met no other Optum employees, sent almost no emails, and regularly went weeks without logging into his company computer, per the Justice Department. Kaul collected a six-figure starting salary that rose through annual bonuses and raises even as he performed no actual work for more than three years.
How the Kickback Payments Moved Across State Lines
To keep the scheme running, Gupta and Kaul agreed on a plan to conceal kickback payments equal to roughly 60% of Kaul’s unearned salary, the Star Tribune reports. Kaul initially made cash deposits directly into Gupta’s bank account from New Jersey, according to the Justice Department, and later mailed Gupta a debit card tied to a checking account that received Optum’s direct deposits, allowing Gupta to withdraw cash from ATMs in California…