Ankeny, Iowa Man Charged with Conspiracy, Wire Fraud in Connection with Workers Compensation Insurance Fraud

DES MOINES, IA—On January 20, 2011, a federal indictment was return against Dan (“Dinesh”) Sethi, age 39, of Ankeny, Iowa, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. The indictment alleges that from approximately August 2007, to December 14, 2009, Sethi, who owns DES Staffing Services in Des Moines, devised and executed a scheme to defraud various insurance companies of the workers compensation insurance premiums to which they were due. The indictment alleges that Sethi created two companies, Staffing Professionals, and KDM Staffing, representing that they were separate from DES. Sethi then transferred the majority of his employees to those two companies, in order to avoid rising workers compensation premiums. The public is reminded that the allegations in the indictment are mere accusations and all persons are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted on this charge, Sethi faces a potential penalty of up to 20 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both fine and imprisonment, a period of supervised release of not more than three years, a special assessment of $100, restitution, and forfeiture.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern Distist of Iowa.