Indian-origin former Optum director convicted for hiring 'ghost employee'

A former senior director at Optum was convicted on multiple fraud charges for hiring an unqualified friend in a no-show job and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks

An Indian-origin former senior employee at Optum Inc, a subsidiary of American healthcare major UnitedHealth Group, was found guilty on multiple fraud charges for hiring an unqualified friend for a job in which the friend did no work, and receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.

 

In a post on X, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that Karan Gupta, 47, a senior director of data analytics at Minnesota-based Optum, was convicted following a six day federal jury trial in Minneapolis. He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

 

Rick Evanchec, acting special agent in-charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office, said, "Gupta abused his position of trust at a subsidiary of the largest healthcare provider in the United States by hiring a ghost employee in a fictitious role in order to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks over several years."

How the fraud was committed

According to the US Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, Gupta in 2015 recruited and approved the hiring of a lifelong friend for a managerial data engineering role at Optum, despite the friend being unqualified for the position. Gupta reportedly provided a false resume, which the friend used to secure the job. Gupta then became his supervisor. 

For nearly four years, the friend performed no work for Optum while collecting a salary that was above $100,000 and increased over time through raises and bonuses, the Attorney's Office said. The friend met no other Optum employees, sent almost no emails, and often failed to log into his Optum computer for weeks at a stretch. 

The Attorney's Office further stated that at Gupta’s direction, the friend paid him more than half of his unearned salary in kickbacks. The two also devised a plan to conceal the payments. This was despite Gupta earning an annual salary of more than $260,000 at the height of his career. 

Initially, the friend, who lived in New Jersey, withdrew cash from his bank account using the fraud proceeds and deposited it at a New Jersey branch of Gupta’s bank, enabling Gupta to access the funds in California. Later, the friend opened a new checking account to receive Optum’s direct deposits and sent Gupta the debit card linked to that account. Gupta then withdrew the fraud proceeds in cash from ATMs in California. 

The scheme came to light after Gupta was terminated in November 2019 for a separate fraud discovered by Optum. The company conducted an internal investigation and referred the matter to the FBI. Gupta’s frauds against Optum totalled more than $1.2 million. 

“Those who manufacture fraudulent schemes to appropriate money from legitimate businesses must be held accountable for their criminal conduct. Kickback schemes and no-show jobs undermine legitimate businesses, and the perpetrators must suffer the consequences of their actions," said US Attorney Jeffrey A Rosen.