XPost: alt.fraud, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: someone@outlook.com   
      
   A man who worked for the company Gov. Tim Walz recently hired to audit   
   Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS) programs at risk for fraud   
   has been convicted of fraud.   
      
   Karan Gupta, 47, a former senior director at Optum, a subsidiary of   
   UnitedHealth Group, was found guilty after a six-day trial on multiple   
   counts, including fraud and money laundering conspiracy, announced United   
   States Attorney Daniel Rosen this week.   
      
   Gupta hired an unqualified friend for a position where the friend did no   
   work and paid half his unearned salary in kickbacks to Gupta, whose fraud   
   totaled more than $1.2 million, a press release from the U.S. attorney   
   said.   
      
   Details from the case revealed that Gupta was a senior director of data   
   analytics at Optum, Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, which is   
   headquartered in Minnesota. At Optum, Gupta earned an annual salary of   
   more than $260,000 at the height of his career.   
      
   In 2015, Gupta recruited and approved the hiring of a lifelong friend,   
   Shangraf Kaul, to work at Optum in a managerial data engineering position.   
   Gupta provided Kaul with a false resume, which Kaul used to secure the   
   position, and Gupta became Kaul’s supervisor.   
      
   For nearly four years, Kaul 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. Kaul met no one else at Optum, sent almost no   
   emails, and regularly did not log into his Optum computer for weeks on   
   end. Charging documents state that Kaul resided in New Jersey at all times   
   relevant to the conspiracy and was working full-time for a technology   
   services and consulting company based in New Jersey.   
      
   Gupta and Kaul agreed that Kaul would share more than half of his unearned   
   Optum salary in kickbacks to Gupta. After initially withdrawing cash that   
   was deposited by Kaul into Gupta’s bank as a kickback, a plan was hatched   
   to conceal the kickback payments in a separate bank account, to which Kaul   
   granted Gupta access through the use of a debit card. Gupta used the card   
   to make cash withdrawals from ATM machines.   
      
   The fraud scheme was discovered after Gupta was terminated in November   
   2019 for a separate fraud by Gupta that Optum discovered. Optum   
   investigated and referred the case to federal law enforcement.   
      
   “Those who manufacture fraudulent schemes to appropriate money from   
   legitimate businesses must be held accountable for their criminal   
   conduct,” said Rosen. “Kickback schemes and no-show jobs undermine   
   legitimate businesses, and the perpetrators must suffer the consequences   
   of their actions.”   
      
   Gupta was found guilty Tuesday on one count of conspiracy to commit wire   
   fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering   
   conspiracy. A sentencing hearing for Gupta has not yet been scheduled.   
      
   Kaul pleaded guilty last year under the terms of a plea agreement but does   
   not appear to have been sentenced yet.   
      
   Minnesota Medicaid fraud investigation by Optum   
   Late last year, Gov. Tim Walz ordered a “third party” audit of 14 Medicaid   
   programs administered by DHS, which were determined to be at high risk for   
   fraud.   
      
   Walz contracted with Optum to conduct the analysis of the programs to   
   identify irregularities such as missing documentation, unusually high   
   billing patterns, or inconsistencies suggesting that a claim may not meet   
   program requirements.   
      
   UnitedHealthcare, which is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (UHG),   
   previously partnered with the State of Minnesota on health plans that   
   included Medicaid services. Optum is also a subsidiary of UHG.   
      
   Last month, Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin interviewed attorney Dr.   
   David Feinwachs on Medicaid fraud in Minnesota.   
      
   “The root cause of all fraud in Minnesota is the absolute total absence of   
   financial safeguards. There just aren’t any there. Zero,” Dr. Feinwachs   
   said. “What’s interesting is this isn’t by accident. This is intentional.”   
      
   Multiple federal agencies are investigating the levels of fraud in   
   Minnesota, and as recently as last week, Border czar Tom Homan confirmed   
   that the fraud work is continuing, as he discussed ICE and Border Patrol’s   
   drawdown of their Metro Surge operation in the state.   
      
   Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary   
   about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin   
   Cities and Greater Minnesota.   
      
   https://alphanews.org/california-man-found-guilty-of-defrauding-former-   
   employer-optum/   
      
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