ATLANTA, Ga. – Jana Kanyadan, the former Global Chief Information Officer of Mohawk Industries, Inc. (“Mohawk”), has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for defrauding Mohawk.
“Kanyadan held a position of authority as a C-suite executive at Mohawk and abused his fiduciary duty by stealing from the company that trusted him,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr. “His sentence is a reasonable one that reflects the seriousness of his criminal conduct.”
“The defendant stole money that should have gone to his employer,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “We will continue to investigate and hold accountable anyone who attempts to scam their employer out of funds.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Moultrie, the indictment, and other information presented in court: Kanyadan was Mohawk’s Global Chief Information Officer, responsible for Information Technology (“IT”) services and decisions. In 2019, Mohawk began a large, multi-year IT project and outsourced work for the project to IT consulting firms. Kanyadan secretly organized and controlled a Georgia company, Meta Technology Platforms, LLC (“Meta Tech”), and used his position at Mohawk to retain Meta Tech as a Mohawk vendor and divert Mohawk’s outsourced IT consulting work to Meta Tech.
Between approximately May 7, 2022, and October 2, 2022, Meta Tech submitted invoices to Mohawk totaling approximately $3,016,011.40. But these invoices did not disclose Kanyadan’s relationship to Meta Tech. Moreover, the invoices charged Mohawk for services that had not actually been performed and for software that had not actually been provided. The invoices also charged Mohawk inflated hourly rates that Kanyadan approved on Mohawk’s behalf. Based on the fraudulent invoices, Mohawk paid Meta Tech approximately $1,857,741.40, in total, with approximately $820,577.40 of that amount arising from fraud.
Jana Kanyadan, 54, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced to seven years, six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Kanyadan was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and $985,166.66 in restitution. Kanyadan pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy and seven counts of wire fraud on November 1, 2024.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samir Kaushal and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tal C. Chaiken prosecuted the case.
