Saurabh Chawla, a Colorado businessman, was found guilty of trafficking in stolen goods and tax evasion. From 2009 to 2019 Chawla purchased more than 3.5 million dollars in goods he knew were stolen, from various individuals, and resold the items on eBay.
Chawla purchased and resold 3,000 Apple iPods from a New Mexico public school employee who oversaw a program to provide the iPods to underprivileged Native American children. Over the course of seven years he paid the school employee, Kristy Stock, $800,000. Chawla also purchased 1.5 million dollars in stolen goods from a FedEx employee who figured out how to steal the items without getting caught. Chawla resold these goods for more than three million dollars.
The stolen goods were sent to a relative of Chawla’s, who was paid $60,000 a year to handle storage and shipping. Chawla also helped the relative evade taxes on the income.
Chawla was sentenced to 66 months in prison, ordered to pay $713,619 to the IRS and forced to forfeit his Tesla and $2,308,062.61 from accounts held in his name and the sale of property in Colorado.
