A Metairie man who embezzled more than $7 million from a Louisiana heavy-lift cargo company and committed tax fraud will spend more than five years in prison.
Deepak “Jack” Jagtiani, 61, has been sentenced to by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey for defrauding the government of over $1 million in income taxes. He pleaded guilty to both counts of the indictment, which charged him with wire fraud and making false statements on a federal income tax return.
According to the court documents, from 2007 to 2019, Jagtiani served as the comptroller of Dan-Gulf Shipping Inc., a Metairie-based freight forwarding company. He admits he used his authority to pay himself excessive salaries and benefits from 2009 through early 2019.
In all, Jagtiani defrauded Dan-Gulf and its business partner of over $7 million. He also admitted to filing false personal tax returns. According to court documents, for tax years 2014 to 2017, Jagtiani claimed business losses through a fake catering business. In total, he claimed enough business losses to offset most of his income for which he would be required to pay federal income tax.
He was sentenced to 63 months in prison for the wire fraud count and 36 months for filing false tax returns, with both sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The judge also ordered nearly $7.1 million to Dan-Gulf and Caytrans BBC, LLC, a partner of Dan-Gulf., and another $1.2 million to the IRS for unpaid income tax.
