Former Bridgestone Americas employee and Franklin resident Sajju Khatiwada pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $15 million wire fraud scheme to defraud his former employer on Aug. 11.
The guilty plea comes about two years after the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into his behavior that led to charges of wire fraud and money laundering in November 2026.
“This defendant abused a position of extraordinary trust to steal nearly $15 million from his employer and then used those stolen funds to generate millions more in investment gains,” U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek said. “Corporate position and financial sophistication are not shields from accountability. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue those who
use positions of trust to enrich themselves through fraud.”
Khatiwada first got a job at Bridgestone's Nashville headquarters in 2016, serving in multiple roles before landing as a finance executive. As assistant treasurer, he was in charge of initiating payments for bank fees and credit card processing fees for the company, and over the course of almost four years, he submitted false invoices that resulted in a total payout of nearly $15 million, according to court documents.
The fake company Khatiwada created was called Paymt-Tech, LLC, and it would regularly charge Bridgestone for "bank fees." Khatiwada would then initiate the payments on these fabricated invoices every month through his Bridgestone accounts. From there, he transferred the proceeds of his fraud into investment accounts.
He continued this process every month from August 2020 until April 2024, when he left the company.
Khatiwada got away with the money unnoticed for just under four years, but two months after his exit, company accountants noticed a significant drop in the amount of monthly bank fees they were paying out.
Upon raising the red flag for money laundering, Bridgestone welcomed in the FBI to investigate. Federal agents traced a total of 47 fake invoices for $14,923,978.57 back to Khatiwada, according the FBI.
As part of his plea agreement, Khatiwada admitted to his actions and said he was able to generate $6.1 million in interest and gains off of the stolen $15 million. In all, the ploy generated $21 million for Khatiwada, all of which he has agreed to forfeit to the U.S. government. He also owes Bridgestone $14,923,978.57, plus interest, in restitution fees.
When the U.S. Attorney's Office first released details of the case, officials said Khatiwada may be charged with up to 30 years in federal prison on both counts of money laundering and fraud, plus a fine up to twice the value of the money he laundered, which would be almost $30 million.
Now, after the plea agreement, Khatiwada faces up to 40 years in federal prison for the two counts of fraud. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger has scheduled Khatiwada’s sentencing for December 22 where she will decide his jail time and finalize the restitution fees that he owes his former employer.
Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work,subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ex-Bridgestone Americas employee pleads guilty to $15M wire fraud
