Ex Williams-Sonoma exec pleads guilty to $16M warehouse kickback scheme

A former Williams-Sonoma Inc. executive on Tuesday pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud for accepting $16.3 million in kickbacks from vendors that supplied equipment for company warehouses in New Jersey and stealing real estate broker commissions.

Eric Marsiglia, 52, admitted that over a four-year period ending in about 2022 he conspired to defraud Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), where he served as vice president of engineering, projects, planning, facilities and real estate, the Department of Justice announced. Marsiglia oversaw the selection and leasing of warehouse space throughout the United States as well as the purchase of steel racking, forklifts and related logistics services.

According to court documents, starting in 2018, Marsiglia accepted money from co-conspirators in exchange for steering Williams-Sonoma 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, he received over $12.2 million in warehouse kickbacks, which he concealed from the retailer.

From 2020 through 2022, Marsiglia also conspired to divert real estate broker commissions associated with Williams-Sonoma warehouses that stored kitchenware and home furnishings. He directed those payments to accounts held by REM Group and then distributed portions of those proceeds to himself and co-conspirators. Marsiglia concealed from Williams-Sonoma that he was diverting broker commission payments to accounts he controlled, rather than to the firm that was entitled to them, prosecutors said. The scheme resulted in the theft of more than $4.1 million in broker commissions.