California Man Found Guilty of Defrauding His Former Employer Optum, Inc. – Justice.gov

MINNEAPOLIS – United States Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced today that Karan Gupta, age 47, was found guilty yesterday of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy, following a six-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis before U.S. District Court Judge Kate M. Menendez.

According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, Gupta was a senior director of data analytics at Optum, Inc., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group 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 to work at Optum in a managerial data engineering position for which the friend was unqualified.  Gupta gave the friend a false resume, which the friend used to secure the position. …

CLICK HERE to read the FULL California Man Found Guilty of Defrauding His Former Employer Optum, Inc. – Justice.gov article.

THE ISUZU MOTORS PAYROLL FRAUD (GQEBERHA, SA)

Date: February 16, 2026 Perpetrator: Natasja Slabbert (42)

Case Description: In a case that hit home for the Eastern Cape business community, Natasja Slabbert, a payroll administrator at Isuzu Motors South Africa’s Struandale plant, was arrested for an alleged R10.5 million fraud. The scheme, which began surfacing in late 2024, exploited the very systems designed to manage employee compensation. Slabbert allegedly manipulated payroll records to create false entries that appeared as legitimate deductions and contributions on employee payslips. In reality, these “deductions” were being diverted into her personal bank account.

The fraud was only uncovered after diligent employees noticed that their net “take-home” pay was significantly lower than expected, despite the gross amounts on their payslips remaining high. Following a thorough probe by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and the NPA’s Specialised Commercial Crime Unit, it was discovered that in August 2024 alone, over R626,000 was unlawfully transferred. Slabbert was granted bail of R5,000 on February 17, 2026, and the case has been postponed to later in the month for further legal proceedings. This case highlights the critical need for “segregation of duties” in payroll departments, as a single point of failure allowed for the systematic siphoning of millions over nearly two years.

Link to Original: PE Express – Isuzu Payroll Fraud