Rockville Man Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Scheme to Defraud His Employer of More Than $1.7 Mil

After the Fraud was Discovered, the Defendant Filed a Petition for Bankruptcy Which was Denied by the Bankruptcy Court


Greenbelt, Maryland – Rakesh Kaushal, age 66, of Rockville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to the federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to defraud his employer of more than $1.7 million.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Jennifer C. Boone of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.

According to his plea agreement, between August 2015 and approximately January 2017, Kaushal was employed by a company headquartered in Beltsville, Maryland (Victim Company 1), which provided construction and design services, primarily to federal government agencies. Ivan Victor Thrane was the owner and president of three construction companies operating in Dickerson and Beltsville, Maryland (“the Thrane companies”). Kaushal recommended the Thrane companies to be subcontractors on Victim Company 1 projects for which Kaushal was the Project Manager or Project Executive.

Kaushal admitted that between August 2015 and January 2017, he conspired with Thrane to defraud Victim Company 1 by submitting fraudulent payment requests for work purportedly performed by the Thrane companies, which Kaushal reviewed and approved. In fact, the Thrane companies had not performed all of the work indicated on the payment requests and, in some cases, had not performed any work on projects for which payment was requested.

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/rockville-man-pleads-guilty-federal-court-scheme-defraud-his-employer-more-17-million