Mohawk Industries’ former Global Chief Information Officer Jana Kanyadan and three other former Mohawk employees have been indicted for allegedly defrauding Mohawk.
Kanyadan and IT specialists Sivakumar Thiyagasamadram, Madhu Shivalingegowda and Chintan Sandesara are accused of secretly organizing and controlling a company called Meta Technology Platforms LLC and then using their positions at Mohawk to retain their own company as a Mohawk vendor. The alleged fraud began in 2019, when Mohawk launched a multi-year IT project and outsourced the project to IT consulting firms, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Between May and October 2022, Meta Tech submitted invoices to Mohawk totalling over $3 million.
“The invoices that Meta Tech submitted to Mohawk did not disclose the defendants’ relationship to Meta Tech,” the DOJ stated. “The invoices also allegedly charged Mohawk for services that had not been performed, for software that had not been provided, and at inflated hourly rates that Kanyadan approved on Mohawk’s behalf.”
Mohawk paid Meta Tech approximately $1.8 million based on Meta Tech’s invoices. The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
