Former Williams-Sonoma executive entered guilty plea to fraud and money laundering resulting in losses over $16 million

Former Williams-Sonoma executive Eric Marsiglia pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. These conspiracies caused losses over $16 million.

More details about the plea from the press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California.

"In his plea agreement, Marsiglia, 52, of Olive Branch, Mississippi, admitted that from approximately 2018 through 2022, he conspired to defraud Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSI). During that time, Marsiglia served as WSI’s Vice President of Engineering, Projects, Planning, Facilities, and Real Estate, with authority to enter vendor contracts and a fiduciary duty to WSI. Marsiglia oversaw the selection and leasing of warehouse space throughout the United States as well as the purchase of steel racking, forklifts, and related warehouse logistics services.

Starting in 2018, Marsiglia accepted kickbacks from co-conspirators in exchange for steering WSI business to three New Jersey companies that supplied forklifts, racking systems, and machinery for warehouses. Marsiglia set up a shell company, REM Group, to receive and conceal the kickbacks. In total, Marsiglia received over $12.2 million in warehouse kickbacks, which he concealed from WSI.

From 2020 through 2022, Marsiglia also conspired to divert real estate broker commissions associated with WSI warehouses. Marsiglia directed these payments to accounts held by REM Group. He then distributed portions of those proceeds to himself and co-conspirators. Marsiglia concealed from WSI that he was causing broker commission payments to be diverted to accounts he controlled, rather than to the firm that was entitled to receive them. This scheme resulted in the misappropriation of over $4.1 million in broker commissions.

Marsiglia further admitted that he conspired to launder proceeds of the wire fraud scheme by conducting financial transactions designed to conceal and disguise the nature, source, ownership, and control of those funds.

A federal grand jury indicted Marsiglia on April 11, 2023, along with Kourosh Mirmehdi, Augusto Alizo, and Michael Podhurst, on charges arising from the kickback scheme and broker commission diversion scheme. Co-conspirator Domenick Nardone was later charged in a superseding indictment on March 12, 2024. All defendants charged in the indictment have pleaded guilty to federal offenses.

United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and IRS Criminal Investigation San Francisco Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge David Lowe made the announcement.

Marsiglia is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Seeborg. The defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the wire fraud conspiracy counts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The case is being prosecuted by the Corporate and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christiaan Highsmith and Ben Wolinsky are prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Elizabeth Kim. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI."