Augusto Alizo, a former real estate executive residing in Weston, Florida, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for orchestrating a sophisticated kickback scheme that dealt a multi-million-dollar blow to Williams Sonoma, the popular home-goods retailer. In a case highlighting the intricate webs of corporate fraud, Alizo admitted to his central role in the conspiracy that defrauded the San Francisco-based company out of more than $4 million in commission rebates.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the 52-year-old former executive colluded with others, including a Vice President at Williams Sonoma, Inc. (WSI) and Kourosh Mirmehdi, to divert WSI funds into their pockets. With a series of transactions that were as deceitful as they were profitable, the trio siphoned off large broker commission rebates that should have been directed to Williams Sonoma.
United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Michael Mosley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation, detailed how Alizo and his co-defendants orchestrated their scheme across Georgia, New Jersey, Arizona, and California. They exploited their corporate positions and set up a shell company, REM Group, to discreetly transfer the stolen funds into their private bank accounts. Alizo, in his guilty plea, admitted to hiding his co-defendant Mirmehdi's activities from their employer and acknowledged his part in the concealment of the fraudulent broker commission rebates, as reported by Hoodline.
Alizo, as part of his plea deal, has agreed to pay $965,526.51 in restitution, reflecting the personal profit he took from the total $4,110,323.81 stolen from the company. While the fraud paid well for Alizo, his choices have now resulted in a prison sentence handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg and a period of supervision following his release. The deft touch with which Alizo and his accomplices navigated their scheme's complexity is now exposed in the stark light of the court's judgment.
The prosecution, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christiaan Highsmith with the assistance of Sara Slattery, emerged from a diligent investigation by the IRS-CI. The fallout of Alizo's actions extends beyond his sentence; it touches on the integrity of corporate dealings and illuminates the temptation and peril of white-collar crime. Alizo is ordered to surrender into custody on December 2, marking the end of a chapter in this extensive fraud narrative that has left its mark on a reputable home-goods empire. Meanwhile, the case against the unnamed Williams Sonoma Vice President and co-conspirator Mirmehdi continues to unfold, adding further chapters to this saga of deceit and corporate malfeasance.
