KPMG Hires CEO’s Fiancée as Firm Lands $24 Million Rail Contract

KPMG recently brought Lyudmyla “Mila” Starostyuk on as a managing advisor at the same time the firm secured a $24 million consulting contract with the California High-Speed Rail Authority that runs through 2029. The hire and the contract overlap in timing in the accounts available, though the exact hire date and the contract award date were not provided in those accounts.

The $24 million agreement is described as a consulting contract extending through 2029; the material reviewed did not include the contract award documents, the procurement method, or a contract start date. KPMG’s role under the contract and whether Starostyuk will work on that specific engagement were not specified in the available details.

In a separate but contemporaneous episode, Folsom police were summoned after a neighbor observed an argument just before midnight that involved High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri, his partner or fiancée Lyudmyla “Mila” Starostyuk, and Choudri’s teenage daughter. The encounter in the front yard led to both Choudri and Starostyuk being detained in the early hours of Feb. 4; a law-enforcement account indicated Choudri, 57, was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery.

Allen Sawyer, the lawyer representing both Choudri and Starostyuk, described the episode as a “private family incident” and said no crimes occurred. Sawyer is quoted as saying, “The district attorney immediately found no merit,” and, “This is a big nothing burger and it will go no further.” There were no police incident reports, booking records, or a statement from the district attorney’s office provided in the available material to corroborate the lawyer’s characterization.

Choudri had left an event earlier the same day with Governor Gavin Newsom in Kern County where officials announced the completion of a 150-acre construction facility intended to support the stalled buildout of the state’s high-speed rail project in the San Joaquin Valley. High-Speed Rail Authority representatives did not respond to requests for comment in the accounts consulted; there was no on-the-record response from the authority in the material provided.

Key public records and confirmations remain absent from the reporting available: a Folsom police incident report and any DA charging decision or declination; KPMG personnel records confirming Starostyuk’s hire date, employment status and responsibilities; and the High-Speed Rail Authority contract award documents showing procurement method, award date and scope. Those documents would clarify the sequencing between Starostyuk’s KPMG role and KPMG’s $24 million contract with the authority.