A former senior executive at Optum, Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, has been convicted of orchestrating a long-running "ghost employee" scheme that defrauded the healthcare giant of more than $1.2 million.
An Indian-origin Karan Gupta, 47, was found guilty on Wednesday (February 17) following a six-day jury trial in a federal court in Minneapolis. The charges included conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
The verdict, delivered before U.S. District Court Judge Kate M. Menendez, concludes an investigation into a kickback operation that lasted nearly four years. Evidence presented during the trial revealed that in 2015, Gupta, then a senior director of data analytics earning an annual salary of $260,000manipulated the hiring process to secure a managerial position for a lifelong friend.
Gupta provided the friend with a fraudulent CV to bypass company requirements, despite the individual being unqualified for the data engineering role. Once hired, Gupta acted as his friend’s direct supervisor, allowing the scheme to go undetected.
According to court documents, the friend performed virtually no work for Optum between 2015 and 2019. Despite sending almost no emails and failing to log into his company computer for weeks at a time, he collected a salary that began at $100,000 and rose steadily through annual bonuses and raises.
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The prosecution detailed a sophisticated arrangement used to funnel more than half of the unearned salary back to Gupta. Initially, the friend, based in New Jersey, withdrew cash and deposited it into Gupta’s bank account so it could be accessed in California.
The pair later refined their method to avoid detection. The friend opened a dedicated checking account for his Optum direct deposits and sent the debit card to Gupta. This allowed the executive to withdraw the proceeds directly from ATMs in California.
The operation collapsed in November 2019 after Gupta was dismissed for an unrelated instance of fraud. An internal investigation by Optum subsequently uncovered the "ghost employee" arrangement, and the matter was referred to federal authorities.
"Mr Gupta abused his position of trust... to defraud his company by hiring a ghost employee for a fictitious position," said Rick Evanchec, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office. He added that the FBI remains committed to holding executives accountable when the costs of their criminal conduct are passed on to the public.
U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen, who announced the verdict, emphasised that "no-show" jobs and kickback schemes undermine the integrity of legitimate businesses.
Gupta now awaits sentencing, where he faces significant prison time. The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew D. Forbes and Rebecca E. Kline.