Ghost Employee, Real Salary: How Indian-Origin Man Duped US Firm Of $1.2 Million

An Indian-origin man has been convicted in the US for defrauding his employer of $1.2 million by hiring his "lifelong friend". According to a release by US Department of Justice, Karan Gupta has been charged with fraud and money laundering conspiracy for hiring the unqualified friend for Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, where he worked as senior director of data analytics.

Karan Gupta, age 47, a Senior Director at Optum, a subsidiary of United Health Group, was found guilty after a six day trial on multiple counts, including fraud and money laundering conspiracy, for hiring an unqualified friend for a position where the friend did no work and paid… pic.twitter.com/cgIWXGXvhK

— FBI Minneapolis (@FBIMinneapolis) February 18, 2026

A press release by US Attorney Office, District of Minnesota, said that Gupta "gave the friend a false resume, which the friend used to secure the position".

"Gupta became his friend's supervisor. Then, for almost four years, the friend did no work at all for Optum, all while collecting a salary that began above $100,000 and increased with raises and bonuses each year. The friend met no one else at Optum, sent almost no emails, and regularly did not log into his Optum computer for weeks on end," the release further said.

The appointment was made in 2015.

"At Optum, Gupta earned an annual salary of more than $260,000 at the height of his career," the document said.

US authorities have also said that the friend gave Gupta more than half of his salary as kickbacks.

Explaining the modus operandi, the Attorney's office said that the friend lived in New Jersey and initially used to withdraw the kickback payments from his bank account in cash then deposit the cash in a New Jersey branch for Gupta's bank, so that Gupta could access the funds in California. 

"Later, the friend opened a new checking account, designated that checking account to receive the Optum direct deposits, and sent Gupta the debit card, which Gupta then used to withdraw the fraud proceeds in cash from ATMs in California."

The incident was discovered after Gupta was terminated by Optum in 2019 in connection with another fraud case. Optum later referred the case to federal agencies.

Rick Evanchec, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office, said Gupta abused his position of trust by hiring a ghost employee.