Owner of Glass Emporium of Marin Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison, Fined $150,000

OAKLAND, CA—Following convictions earlier this year, the owner of Glass Emporium of Marin was sentenced on July 2 to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay a$150,000 fine, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.

Mehrdad Hakimian, 48, of Mill Valley, California, was indicted by a federal grand jury in a superseding indictment on Jan. 14, 2010. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, harboring illegal aliens, and obstruction of justice.

Hakimian entered guilty pleas on Feb. 5, 2010 to conspiring to commit visa fraud, seven counts of visa fraud, and two counts of harboring illegal aliens. In his pleas of guilty, Hakimian admitted that he knowingly submitted several specialty work visa applications that contained false material statements to federal agencies on behalf of foreign employees. Hakimian also admitted that he concealed two undocumented employees from immigration authorities.

On Feb. 23, 2010, Hakimian went to trial on the remaining charges. He was convicted by a jury on March 18, 2010, of all remaining counts, including conspiring to commit wire fraud, nine counts of wire fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice. During the trial, the evidence showed that Hakimian directed employees in the Oakland corporate office, as well as managers at some of the automobile glass replacement company’s 60 stores throughout the country, to falsify invoices sent to insurance companies for the replacement of windshields and other automobile glass, causing losses of more than $400,000. The evidence further established that, following a search of the corporate office on Dec. 19, 2006, that was authorized by a federal judge, Hakimian obstructed justice by concealing and destroying documents for the purpose of impeding an ongoing FBI investigation into him and his corporation.

The 42 month sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen. Judge Jensen also sentenced Hakimian to serve three years of supervised release following his term of incarceration. No restitution was ordered because Hakimian reached a settlement agreement with State Farm Insurance, the company that conducted their own investigation of Hakimian and Glass Emporium, and Hakimian had made payments to approximately 77 insurance companies victimized by the fraud. The defendant will begin serving his sentence on Sept. 3, 2010.

Wade Rhyne and Stephen Corrigan are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case with the assistance of legal tech Katie Turner. The prosecution is the result of a two year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Further Information:

Case #: CR 09-00021 DLJ

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.

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