Former Williams-Sonoma exec admits to taking $12.2 million in warehouse kickbacks

A former executive for high-end kitchen goods retailer Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSI) admitted to taking part in a multi-million dollar warehousing and real estate scheme.

On August 11, 2026, Mississippi resident Eric Marsiglia, 52, pleaded guilty to federal charges including 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.

Marsiglia was formerly employed as WSI’s Vice President of Engineering, Projects, Planning, Facilities, and Real Estate and 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, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

Officials said that starting in 2018, Marsiglia accepted $12.2 million in warehouse kickbacks in exchange for steering WSI business to three New Jersey companies that supplied forklifts, racking systems, and machinery for warehouses.

Marsiglia used a shell company called REM Group to conceal the kickback scheme, authorities said.

Additionally, from 2020 through 2022, Marsiglia admitted to the misappropriation of $4.1 million in real estate broker commissions associated with WSI warehouses. Marsiglia diverted the commission payments from the companies that were supposed to receive them through the REM Group shell company and then distributed the money to accounts owned by himself and other co-conspirators.

Marsiglia also admitted to conducting financial transactions to conceal and “launder proceeds of the wire fraud scheme.”

Marsiglia was indicted along with co-conspirators Kourosh Mirmehdi, Augusto Alizo, and Michael Podhurst on April 11, 2023. An additional co-conspirator, Domenick Nardone, was also charged in March 2024.

All defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Marsiglia faces sentencing on November 3, 2026. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the wire fraud conspiracy counts, and up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for conspiracy to commit money laundering.