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SANTA ANA (CNS) - An Irvine man was sentenced Thursday to nearly three years in federal prison for embezzling about $2.7 million over 10 years from his Newport Beach-based employer.
Varun Aggarwal, 41, pleaded guilty in August to a count of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, who sentenced the defendant to 33 months behind bars, ordered $2.7 million in restitution and put the defendant on three years of supervised release when he is freed. Aggarwal was given until June 5 to begin serving his prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel had recommended 27 months in prison. Sagel credited the defendant with paying taxes on his ill-gotten gains and noted that while he stole a great deal of money over many years from his employer, KBS Realty Advisors, he did cooperate fully after he was caught.
Sagel also noted that Aggarwal has not contested the forfeiture of assets, which included joint checking accounts with his wife, to pay back what he stole. Sagel said he reached out to KBS to see if the company's executives wanted to make a victim impact statement but that they did not respond.
Aggarwal's attorney, Joseph Benincasa, argued for probation. The defense attorney did not contest the restitution, but he argued that the loss amount was "overstated."
"He has huge support from his family," Benincasa, pointing to about two dozen supporters in the courtroom on Thursday.
"When he fell, there were people there to pick him up," Benincasa said.
Aggarwal began working for KBS in 2008 and rose up to the auditing department's director. Prosecutors say from about the start of 2012 through January of 2022, he began embezzling money through a scheme to have friends and family serve as approved vendors for contracting work.
Aggarwal submitted phony invoices for consulting services not performed for the company, prosecutors said. Then Aggarwal, who has alcohol and gambling addictions, took the money for himself.
Aggarwal resigned from the company in January 2022 when his work was being investigated, prosecutors said. Benincasa said a short time after he resigned, he pledged to pay the money back.
"He would be happy to accept thousands of hours of community service," Benincasa said.
Aggarwal told Carney he had a "heavy heart for the harm I caused." He added he felt "deeply ashamed" and has "no excuse."
Aggarwal said "It breaks my heart to know how much I've hurt" his former employer.
"My bad choices will hurt my children and parents for many years to come," he said.
Aggarwal said in his Indian culture, "We never spoke of mental health or the dangers of addiction. We were expected to recover on our own."
When he began going to Alcoholics Anonymous, "I found the support I needed," he said.
"I assure you," Aggarwal told Carney, "I will never return to a courtroom as a defendant."
Aggarwal has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders, Carney noted. But he has stopped drinking and gambling, works for Home Depot and spends time volunteering, the judge added.
Aggarwal's parents are disabled and he has an uncle with Parkinson's disease whom he helps care for. He is also married and has children 9 and 5 years old, one of whom is autistic. Carney said.
But, "Mr. Aggarwal defrauded his employer out of $2.7 million and lied to his friends over 10 years," Carney said.