to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than half a million dollars from a small Virginia marble and tile business.
Iraj “Roger” Ahmadian was taken off to prison last Monday after his conviction. The federal judge in Virginia also ordered Ahmadian to make restitution to Dillon Stone Corp., a once-thriving small business that was virtually destroyed by Ahmadian’s embezzlement.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Ahmadian on the high end of the sentencing guideline because of the intricate and massive fraud scheme and the damage inflicted on Dillon Stone.
The company had more than 40 employees and $5 million in annual sales when Ahmadian was hired in October 2003 as executive vice president to manage day-to-day operations, said Andre Hutchison, the owner of Dillon Stone. The firm now employs six people.
Six months later after being hired, records show, Ahmadian began embezzling. The two executives were friendly, sometimes social. Hutchison once hosted a Persian breakfast for Ahmadian and his wife, who is also Iranian.
For four years the business was growing. In that time, prosecutors said, Ahmadian wrote 220 fraudulent checks.
“On the surface, the subcontractor pay-requests made it appear to Dillon Stone as if the payments were legitimate; however, this merely concealed the spiraling financial problems to Dillon Stone stemming from the defendant’s conduct,” US Attorney Neil MacBride said in court documents asking for a harsh sentence.
While he worked for Dillon Stone, Ahmadian’s wife, Mehri Ahmadzadegan, continued to live in their home in Tennessee. Ahmadian, 54, flew from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Memphis, Tennessee, every other week to be with his wife and children. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported the house was appraised at $411,000.
Ahmadian was free for four years while Hutchison searched his records and put the pieces of Ahmadian’s scheme together.
“I don’t have a thousand dollars to my name,” said Hutchison. “I spent all the money I was saving for retirement and my children’s college education paying off every creditor we owed money to. Everyone got paid. I built this company on my name and I wasn’t going to have that ruined by not paying my bills.”
For a period, all his workers were laid off, but Hutchison is rebuilding. He recently hired six employees and hopes to hire more as tries to build his business back up again.