Image: IANSA 41-year-old Indian-American former executive has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $2.7 million from his employer.Varun Aggarwal, who worked at a commercial real estate agency in California, pleaded guilty on Aug 21 to one count of wire fraud for submitting fictitious invoices for companies controlled by his family and friends, whose services never were performed.Aggarwal’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan 22, 2024, and he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.According to his plea agreement, from 2008 to Jan 2022, Aggarwal worked in the internal auditing department of the Newport Beach-based KBS Realty Advisors and rose to the level of the department’s director.Beginning at least as early as Jan 2012 and continuing until Jan 2022, Aggarwal used his position to embezzle his employer’s money, a Department of Justice statement said.Aggarwal used his position to embezzle moneyAs a member of the company’s internal auditing group, Aggarwal was familiar with company's policies and procedures for payments to vendors.He used his knowledge of those policies and procedures to have his friends and family serve as approved vendors to do contracting work for the company.After several of these companies became approved vendors for KBS, Aggarwal used these approved vendors to submit fraudulent invoices for consulting services that were not performed for the company.He then funnelled the payments on the invoices from the company to his own bank accounts— through the approved vendors— at times without informing the vendors that the invoices and the payments on the invoices were for his own benefit.In carrying out this scheme, Aggarwal fraudulently obtained nearly $2,729,718 that he caused to pay to the approved vendors, and ultimately to himself.He resigned from the company in Jan 2022 after the company began investigating the invoices, according to court documents.(Source: IANS)-Edited for styleFor more such updates and news on the go, follow us onInstagram | YouTube | Facebook