Brooklyn, NY - Fugitive CEO Sought, Was Captured In Africa
Brooklyn, NY - The fugitive former chief executive of leading voicemail software maker Comverse Technology Inc. has been captured in Africa following a two-month international manhunt.
Details of the arrest of Jacob "Kobi" Alexander in the Republic of Namibia were not immediately available. But in a statement, U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf credited local officials in the southwest African nation for assisting the FBI in the capture. "We are very grateful for the Namibians' swift action and commend them for their vigilance," she said.
Mauskopf said she would seek Alexander's swift extradition to face charges in federal court in Brooklyn.
The manhunt was launched in late July shortly before authorities unsealed a criminal complaint accusing Alexander and two other former top executives of secretly manipulating stock options for personal profit.
Before he disappeared, Alexander, 54, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Israel, transferred $57 million to Israel, fueling speculation he may have fled there.
Two other defendants, former finance chief David Kreinberg and former senior general counsel William Sorin, surrendered in August and were released on $1 million bond each.
posted by VOS IZ NEIAS @ 9/27/2006 03:58:00 PM
6 Comments:
At 4:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
my chilul hashem ringer is ringing off the hook.
At 5:16 PM,
Anonymous said…
YET ANOTHER CHILLUL HASHEM. WHY DO THEY DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN?
At 5:49 PM,
Anonymous said…
AT LEAST THEY DIDN'T CALL HIM A RABBI!
At 11:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
this is not fair, i personaly know him and he is a tremendous baal chesed !!!
At 12:20 PM,
Anonymous said…
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — A businessman wanted in the United States in a multimillion-dollar stock manipulation case appeared in a Namibian court Thursday, his lawyer said.
Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the indicted former chief executive of voicemail-software maker Comverse Technology Inc., was arrested Wednesday in Namibia's capital of Windhoek, following a two-month international manhunt.
His lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, said in a telephone interview that the matter was postponed until Monday for a bail hearing. Alexander was being jailed in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
Metcalfe would not comment further but said a statement would be issued Friday.
Namibian police confirmed that Alexander, 54, an Israeli citizen and a U.S. permanent resident, was arrested late Wednesday afternoon following a request for assistance by the FBI.
Details of his capture have not yet emerged but he is said to have been living with his family in the largely desert country for about two months.
Dennis Khama, a Namibian Ministry of Justice official, said by telephone that a provisional warrant had been issued for Alexander. This gives U.S. authorities 30 days to lodge a formal extradition request.
"Only then will a formal extradition hearing be held," he said, adding that the request for Alexander's capture was only made to Namibian authorities on Wednesday.
"He is an ethical man," Shmulik Shem-Tov, a longtime friend of Alexander, said on Israeli television. "I'm sure he didn't do a corrupt act; there is maybe a procedural problem."
A U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Nancy Beck, said that though the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Namibia, laws there still would allow a judge to release him to U.S. custody.
Authorities began hunting for Alexander in late July shortly before a criminal complaint was unsealed accusing him and two other former top executives of fraud.
Before he disappeared, Alexander allegedly transferred $57 million to Israel.
Two other defendants, former Finance Chief David Kreinberg and former senior general counsel William Sorin, surrendered in August and were released on $1 million bond each.
The complaint unsealed in federal court accuses the three men of making stock options more lucrative by backdating their exercise price to a low point in the stock's value. Usually, a stock option's exercise price coincides with the market value at the time of a grant to give the recipient an incentive to drive the price higher.
From 1991 through 2005, Alexander exercised options and sold stocks worth approximately 150 million, making a $138 million profit, according to the complaint. Of that, about $6.4 million was generated by backdating options, it said.
Prosecutors allege Kreinberg and Sorin earned about $1 million each on backdated options.
In addition, the company awarded thousands of stock options to fictional employees, then secretly transferred the awards to an internal account under the name I.M. Fanton, which stood for phantom, court papers said. The scheme allowed Alexander to award those options to real "favored employees" and to himself without board of directors approval, the papers added.
Comverse Technology is headquartered in Woodbury, N.Y., giving Brooklyn prosecutors jurisdiction over the case.
At 12:42 PM,
Anonymous said…
"Comverse Technology is headquartered in Woodbury, N.Y., giving Brooklyn prosecutors jurisdiction over the case. "
Since when does Brooklyn have jurisdiction over Woodbury???
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