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Shawn Rains, age 57, of Le Bouscat, France, and Joseph Maharaj, age 42, of Goldens Bridge, were both found guilty of mail fraud charges following their theft of over $4 million from White Plains-based OrthoNet, the US Attorney's Office for Southern District of New York announced on Monday, Oct. 23.
According to federal officials, Rains had been an executive at OrthoNet. Between 2009 and 2017, Rains and Maharaj, who was also an executive at the company, designed and executed a plan to defraud the company of over $4 million and launder the stolen funds.
To do this, Rains, Maharaj, and others created fake vendors that claimed to do work on behalf of OrthoNet. The duo and their co-conspirators would then sign invoices approving payments for the fake work and have OrthoNet send payments to the vendors they created, according to officials.
They would then convert this money into cash to hide the source of the fraudulent proceeds before splitting it up amongst themselves.
Both Rains and Maharaj were convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. Additionally, Rains was also convicted of:
- One count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years;
- One count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which also carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Maharaj is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, Dec. 4.
In a statement, US Attorney Damian Williams said Rains "betrayed the trust of his employer by stealing millions of dollars."
"This verdict should remind those in positions of trust that if you engage in fraud, we will catch you and hold you accountable," Williams added.
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