Rockville Man Sentenced For Stealing $1.7M From Employer

ROCKVILLE, MD — A Rockville man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison in a scheme to defraud his employer of more than $1.7 million, according to federal prosecutors.

Rakesh Kaushal, 66, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt Tuesday for conspiring to commit wire fraud.

Between August 2015 and January 2017, Kaushal worked for a Beltsville-based company that primarily provided construction and design services to federal government agencies. According to his plea agreement, Kaushal committed fraud with the help of Ivan Victor Thrane — the owner and president of the Thrane companies — during that time. Thrane, 65, of Dickerson, pleaded guilty for his role in late August.

Prosecutors say Kaushal hired Thrane as a subcontractor on projects he oversaw and then submitted fraudulent payment requests for work that hadn't been finished or started. More specifically, Kaushal emailed payment requests to Thrane, who signed them (or delegated someone else to sign them), and then sent them back to Kaushal for approval.

Once Thrane received the money, prosecutors said he funneled a portion of the payments to Kaushal — typically by writing checks from his personal bank account or through the Thrane companies.

From September 2015 to December 2016, Kaushal's employer paid the Thrane companies approximately $3,294,675.34 as a result of the scheme, prosecutors said. Kaushal received about $1,740,330 in checks after the Thrane companies issued 34 kickback payments.

When Kaushal's employer learned about the payments, Kaushal and Thrane repotedly tried to cover up the scheme.

On Dec. 28, 2016, Kaushal sent Thane an email that read in part:

"Good Morning Mr. Thrane: I have been informed by our accounting department that mistakenly we have overpaid your company for the MPO Skywalk Project. Can you please verify with your accounting and respond by COB today."

Kaushal's employees were copied on the e-mail.

In response, Thrane said he'd review the records with his accountant and return any overpayments immediately.

Thrane, however, did not have an accountant, according to prosecutors.

On Jan. 3, 2017, Kaushal's employer "reversed or voided payments totaling approximately $741,525 to the Thrane companies," the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Kaushal admitted losing between $1.5 million and $3.5 million as a result of the scheme, the agency added.

In January, after the company learned about the fraud, Kaushal reportedly wired $650,000 from one of his personal bank accounts to an account in India. Prosecutors later learned that Kaushal was listed as the beneficiary.

Kaushal's employer eventually filed a civil suit against Kaushal and Thrane, and won around $1.7 million. Kaushal then filed for bankruptcy.

While testifying in bankruptcy court, Kaushal said he had used some of the proceeds of the fraud to buy a condo in India for a family member and that "he had lost more than $100,000 gambling at various casinos," according to prosecutors.

Kaushal could not account for more than $1 million of the kickback payments he received from Thrane. In May, Kaushal's petition for bankruptcy was denied.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm ordered Kaushal to pay restitution, but the exact amount has not yet been determined.

Kaushal remains detained, according to prosecutors.