A former executive at an Orange County commercial real estate agency was arrested on Monday, Nov. 14, on suspicion of stealing $2.5 million in a decade-long scheme.

Beginning in 2012 and continuing through January 2022, Varun Aggarwal is suspected using his position at the Newport Beach-based KBS Realty Advisors to embezzle his employer’s money by sending fictitious invoices for companies controlled by his family and friends for services that were never performed, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a news release.

Aggarwal, 40,  an Irvine resident, served as the director of the company’s internal auditing department, and was familiar with the company’s policies and procedures for payments made to vendors.

While in his directorial position, he allegedly had friends and family perform contracting work for his groups at KBS that he would then use to submit fraudulent invoices for consulting services, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The payments received for the services that were not performed by the company were then funneled on the invoices from KBS to his own bank accounts.

The six vendors used in the scheme were not informed that the invoices and payments were for his own benefit.

Aggarwal resigned from KBS in January after the company began investigating the invoices, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Aggarwal faces charges of mail fraud and wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison if found guilty on both counts.

Related Articles