Socialite spared prison for purse scam. She’ll do 1,600 service hours, repay T.J. Maxx $166,000

A contrite Miami socialite cried before a federal judge Thursday as she apologized repeatedly for stealing about $135,000 worth of designer handbags from a major retailer in an online scam.

“I never thought in a million years I’d be here in a federal court as a defendant,” Meghana Rajadhyaksha, 39, told U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro. “I am so embarrassed and ashamed for my conduct. Your honor, I have so much guilt about what I did. My family has been so hurt. My actions were stupid and made no sense.”

In the end, Ungaro showed mercy for her crime, giving Rajadhyaksha no prison time after considering her quick guilty plea and pledge to reimburse the retail victim, T.J. Maxx. The judge also took into account her history of depression.

Ungaro gave Rajadhyaksha four years of probation, requiring her to be placed under house arrest for one year while wearing an electronic monitor. She ordered the defendant to reimburse $166,000 to T.J. Maxx, the victim of her online retail scam, to cover the value of the stolen merchandise as well as the cost of the federal investigation that led to her arrest in April.

Rajadhyaksha must also pay a fine of $40,000 and a forfeiture judgment of $11,000 to the U.S. government. And, the judge ordered her to perform 1,600 hours of community service over the next four years.

From her Coral Gables home, Rajadhyaksha bought 69 handbags by Fendi, Gucci and other famous designer brands from e-commerce retailer T.J. Maxx, according to her plea agreement. But then she bought knockoffs on Amazon to exchange for the luxury purses — by switching the tags — to obtain full refunds from the retailer.

Rajadhyaksha then sold 10 of the actual luxury bags through a consignment outlet in New Jersey, The RealReal — making about $11,000 for herself.

In late May, Rajadhyaksha pleaded guilty to three counts of committing mail fraud and one count of selling stolen goods between November 2017 and March 2019. She was facing one year to one and a half years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Her defense attorney Christoper Lyons sought no prison time, while federal prosecutor Stephanie Hauser asked for six months of prison and six months of house arrest.

“It was not about greed and it was not about vanity,” Lyons told the judge, noting that when federal agents with the U.S. Secret Service seized 59 of the designer bags from her bedroom closet, they were in “pristine condition.”

Lyons said that his client suffered from depression after the death of her father and two difficult pregnancies, but never got mental health treatment until her arrest. “These bags were like a distraction for her depression,” he told the judge.

But Hauser, the prosecutor, said Rajadhyaksha carried out her retail scheme for one and a half years instead of seeking treatment for her depression. She said the defendant deserved to spend some time in prison for committing fraud.

Before her arrest, Rajadhyaksha was often photographed with a designer handbag at fund-raising events at Vizcaya, the Faena Forum and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. Rajadhyaksha, whose husband, Amar Dilip Rajadhyaksha, is an orthopedic surgeon, regularly mingled with the society crowd in Miami. In June of last year, she attended the birthday luncheon of the Miami Herald’s former “Queen of the Night” columnist, publicist Tara Solomon, at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach.

But after she was caught for stealing the designer bags from T.J. Maxx and was convicted as a felon, her defense attorney said his client was shunned by many in Miami’s society circles and even at her children’s private school in Coconut Grove.

Still, 16 people wrote letters of support to Judge Ungaro, saying that Rajadhyaksha was a dedicated mother who volunteered at her children’s school, performed charity work and did various acts of kindness. Several said her crime was “completely out of character.”

The defendant’s husband said in a letter that his wife plunged into depression after the death of her father to colon cancer and the birth of their two children.

“As a doctor, I am embarrassed that I didn’t see the signs of her depression,” Amar Rajadhyaksha wrote the judge “I know my wife. If given the chance, she will continue to seek help and improve her mental well-being. ... Meghana is the ‘glue’ that holds this family together. Without her, we would fall apart.”

After the judge gave her no prison time, Rajadhyaksha stood up, turned around and hugged her husband.

This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 4:27 PM.