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California Man Sentenced to 36 Months for Defrauding Former Employer Optum

Karan Gupta was sentenced to 36 months in prison for wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy in a scheme that defrauded Optum, Inc. of more than $950,000.

2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 25, 2026, 3:48 p.m. ET

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 25, 2026, 3:52 p.m. ET
Developing · checked 6h ago

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 25, 2026, 1:08 p.m. ET — checked 6h ago.

MINNEAPOLIS – On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota announced that Karan Gupta, 48, of Walnut Creek, California, was to 36 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Gupta was before U.S. District Judge Kate M. Menendez on August 24, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gupta was found guilty by a jury on February 17, 2026, following a six-day trial. Court documents and trial evidence showed that between 2015 and 2020, Gupta, a senior director at Optum, created a no-show job for his friend Shangraf Kaul, 45, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, as a data engineering manager. Kaul performed no work but collected a six-figure salary, and Gupta received approximately 60% of that salary as kickbacks, totaling more than $950,000 in fraud. Kaul pleaded guilty on February 26, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew D. Forbes and Rebecca E. Kline prosecuted it.

Earlier reports

  1. Aug 25, 2026, 3:48 p.m. ETFirst report

    California Man Sentenced to 36 Months for Defrauding Former Employer Optum

    MINNEAPOLIS – On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota announced that Karan Gupta, 48, of Walnut Creek, California, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The sentencing occurred on August 24, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

    Gupta, a former senior director at Optum, Inc., was found guilty by a jury on February 17, 2026, following a six-day trial. Court documents and trial evidence showed that between 2015 and 2020, Gupta created a no-show job for his friend Shangraf Kaul, 45, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, as a data engineering manager, and received about 60% of Kaul's salary as kickbacks. The fraud totaled more than $950,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

    Kaul pleaded guilty on February 26, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew D. Forbes and Rebecca E. Kline.

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Revision history

  1. Version 125 Aug 2026, 19:52current

    First published.

  2. Version 125 Aug 2026, 19:48current

    First published.

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