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Ausaf Umar Siddiqui  (Source: Santa Clara County Jai)
Things continue to only get worse for the former Fry's VP accused of embezzlement

Fry's Electronics has filed a lawsuit against former company executive Ausaf Umar "Omar" Siddiqui, who is accused of embezzling over $65 million from the company in a three-year span.

Shortly after being arrested at Fry's headquarters, the former VP of merchandising and operations now faces a $10 million lawsuit as his former employer looks to recover money he borrowed and failed to repay.  The lawsuit was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, and seeks Siddiqui to repay the $10.1 million, hundreds of thousands in compiled interest over the past five years, and to also relinquish his Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and condo in Palo Alto.

He used the two cars and condo as collateral when he received two promissory notes -- it's still unknown why the company gave him the loans in the first place, with company officials saying they don't publicly discuss such topics.

Siddiqui, who was paid $225,000 per year officially, was such an avid gambler that Las Vegas casinos would charter private jets and fly him to Sin City for the weekend.  The Clark County district attorney's office was monitoring Siddiqui's activities while he was in Las Vegas gambling, county officials reported.

In addition to the federal charges, and the lawsuit from Fry's, there are still several financial and legal issues Siddiqui must resolve with Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos.  He's been making payments, as required, to Las Vegas casinos, but it's unsure if he was making payments with the money he embezzled from Fry's.  If so, it's possible, according to attorneys and analysts analyzing the case, that Fry's could seek money from the casinos.

Siddiqui will appear in court next month to officially face wire fraud and money laundering charges.



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Small FRY.....
By crystal clear on 12/29/08, Rating: 0
RE: Small FRY.....
By crystal clear on 12/29/2008 7:14:41 AM , Rating: 3
Some other well known small FRY's in the news recently-

* New York lawyer Marc Dreier defraud hedge funds by selling them false promissory notes, may be at least $380 million.

* Ronald Ferguson, a former chief executive of General Re Corp, a reinsurance unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc guilty of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false statements to regulators and mail fraud.

Buffett was not charged in the case.

"This transaction was designed to cook the books of AIG.


Add on to this list if I missed out some more....


RE: Small FRY.....
By wideout on 12/29/2008 8:06:15 AM , Rating: 5
Technically he is a small fry according to you, but have you ever seen $65,000,000 before? That is a crap load of money. Once you get in the range of fraud/embezzlement that is north of $100,000 it is amazing what you can buy with that money.

I work as an auditor to uncover fraud, and let me tell you, it shouldn't matter the size of the fraud, it should matter that it was done. Too bad our society doesn't generally think the same way. More than likely, he will have to relinquish some of his assets (but more than likely considering the size of his embezzlement, it is either spent or off-shore), pay a fine that is small in comparison to the embezzlement amount, and maybe some jail time if he is unlucky.

Also given his "executive" level knowledge of the profitable consumer technology industry, I suspect he will be back working in the industry (i.e. Best Buy) before long. Granted they will probably limit him so he can't do this type of embezzlement again, but he will be back with a six figure (or higher) salary.


RE: Small FRY.....
By Mitch101 on 12/29/2008 8:21:09 AM , Rating: 2
Losing 65 million of a companies money should make for an interesting resume bullet point.

I say he is toast and his only option would be an independent startup.


RE: Small FRY.....
By Mitch101 on 12/29/2008 8:22:04 AM , Rating: 2
Oh and if he doesn't go the route of independent startup there is always Government.


RE: Small FRY.....
By diego10arg on 12/29/2008 8:42:13 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
...there is always Government.


They don't want competition...


RE: Small FRY.....
By Totally on 12/29/2008 9:38:50 AM , Rating: 2
i doubt it, the federal government doesn't employ convicted felons.


RE: Small FRY.....
By 16nm on 12/29/2008 10:56:37 AM , Rating: 2
Not knowingly


RE: Small FRY.....
By Denithor on 12/29/2008 11:30:43 AM , Rating: 2
He hasn't been convicted yet...

And my question: why is Fry's only going after 10M in loans they gave him and not the whole 65M he allegedly stole from them? Perhaps that lawsuit will have to wait until he's been convicted.


RE: Small FRY.....
By Yames on 12/29/2008 2:38:49 PM , Rating: 2
I think they are trying to get what they can now. They are out $75M because of this guy, and who knows how much they may be able to get back from him.


RE: Small FRY.....
By Darkk on 12/29/2008 11:19:53 PM , Rating: 2
Guess I won't be getting my rebate from Fry's.


RE: Small FRY.....
By crystal clear on 12/29/2008 8:46:45 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
I work as an auditor to uncover fraud, and let me tell you, it shouldn't matter the size of the fraud, it should matter that it was done.


Yes indeed thats why I closed off my comment with this-

Anyway its high time many more like this small fry are exposed & sent to jail.

As for the comment - something in an amusing way

FRY's & small FRY

" in the fraud/embezzlement industry "

Here something more on the subject-

December 23, 2008 -- In order to correct erroneous press reports, the Bank has confirmed that it declared Satyam ineligible to receive direct contracts from the World Bank under its corporate procurement program for a period of eight years.

Satyam was declared ineligible for contracts for providing improper benefits to Bank staff and for failing to maintain documentation to support fees charged for its subcontractors. The Bank's decision was effective in September 2008 and followed a temporary suspension that took effect in February 2008.



http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTR...

for providing improper benefits to Bank staff .....

You say-

"I suspect he will be back working in the industry (i.e. Best Buy) before long."

He can work as a consultant in the " in the fraud/embezzlement industry " ....

given his "executive" level knowledge of the profitable fraud/embezzlement industry


RE: Small FRY.....
By bkslopper on 12/30/2008 6:03:22 AM , Rating: 2
Best Buy would be stupid to hire this guy. (Not saying that they aren't stupid, so they probably would hire him.) This guy dealt contracts on unfavorable terms to Fry's.


RE: Small FRY.....
By MrPoletski on 12/29/2008 9:16:13 AM , Rating: 2
110% agree with you. Only thing that gets me is he swindled 65 mill but is only sued for 10 mill. In this current environment that 65mill could cost fry's existance. I don't know how well frys is doing right now but I'd be suing for more than the 65 mill because of the damage this could cause. hell they may even go bust before getting ANY money back.

Only thing I havent considered is how likely they are to get any money out of him rather than him going to jail. he should go to the clink, but for the embezzelment, not just for failing to pay up.


RE: Small FRY.....
By crystal clear on 12/29/2008 9:47:37 AM , Rating: 2
They could use this tax loophole-even though in the news item below it relates to Madoffs....
by exploring ways to recoup at least some of their money through so-called "theft loss" deductions or other tax refunds.

Read below-

Theft-loss provisions were intended to help uninsured people whose property was stolen, damaged or destroyed in an accident or by an act of nature -- from storms to earthquakes.

But they also apply to fraud-related investments.

Taxpayers can deduct theft losses if they exceed 10 percent of their adjusted gross income in the year the fraud was discovered, which is 2008. Given the massive scale of fraud, losses for many of Madoff's investors could top the 10 percent threshold.

Those deductions can be made on income taxes dating to 2005. And any unused losses can be used to reduce tax liabilities for the next 20 years said Warren Kessler, an attorney at the Los Angeles law firm Kessler & Kessler.

"There is no question that it applies in this context.
It's pretty clear that this is a theft loss," he said.


There are important caveats: In order to claim the deduction, it has to be a reasonable chance an investor will not recoup their losses. That means those who pursue class- action lawsuits may be ineligible.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BH7...


uhh
By Tamale on 12/29/2008 3:55:13 AM , Rating: 3
so.. uh.. what about the other 51-some million?




RE: uhh
By afkrotch on 12/29/2008 5:04:35 AM , Rating: 2
Well, they loaned him 10 mil and he then embezzeled 65 mil. So they'll try to get their 10 mil through him and try for the 65 mil through the casinos.

I personally don't see how they could get it from the casinos. It's not like they know that he's embezzeling it, but that's just the way the law works I guess. Just cause it's stolen property and you don't know about it when you purchase it, doesn't mean you get to keep it.


RE: uhh
By masher2 (blog) on 12/29/2008 10:43:55 AM , Rating: 2
In this case, I don't believe the assets could be called stolen property. They're kickbacks and bribes from other entities, not from Fry's itself.


RE: uhh
By Reclaimer77 on 12/29/08, Rating: 0
Think Madoff and Fry's guy is bad look at this
By stilltrying on 12/29/2008 9:29:15 AM , Rating: 4
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12042008/business/ponz...

Check this scam out. Rubin - Clinton adviser and Obamas biggest campaign contributor. Most people have never heard of this one as its being net and news censored because of the close ties. Political parties are a scam and no I dont believe in the repubs or dems, they are both crooked and corrupt. Fraud must be exposed, unfortunately that would probably cover more than half of the US from tax cheating, welfare cheating, so on and so forth.




RE: Think Madoff and Fry's guy is bad look at this
By Totalcarbs on 12/29/08, Rating: 0
By stilltrying on 12/29/2008 2:18:33 PM , Rating: 3
Well take a look here. He is filling and has filled out his team with Rubinites. Obama is a crook just like Bush. They are all crooks and the sooner you open your blind eye to your party the better off this country will be. The govt is run by fascists/socialists/collectivists. WAKE UP. The collectivism between elites is undeniable. The sooner you wake up and realize that your party whether dem or repub is corrupt and ethically bankrupt the better off you will be.

RUBIN was the US TREASURY SECRETARY and is now involved in a court battle which declares that he was using a pozi scheme as well and has been blackbooked (no coverage)due to elite ties on TV and most web news sites.

http://www.ustreas.gov/education/history/secretari...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/24/business/ru...


Kind of looks like Vito
By Lord 666 on 12/29/2008 4:15:53 AM , Rating: 3
He'll definitely enjoy prison as someone's b1tch.

That mug shot begs for some lipstick on the lips.




RE: Kind of looks like Vito
By MrPoletski on 12/29/2008 9:19:50 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Santa Clara County Jai


Is where he is right now hehe, says on teh mugshot. Anyone sending him to JAIL? XD


Sue the casinos?
By cbmeeks on 12/29/2008 8:04:54 AM , Rating: 2
Oh yeah. Who wants to be the CEO of Fry's when some casino gets a multimillion dollar lawsuit from them?

Don't they watch the movies? lol




RE: Sue the casinos?
By PhoenixKnight on 12/29/2008 10:38:33 AM , Rating: 1
Maybe they'll employ Danny Ocean to recover their money from the casinos, instead.


RE: Sue the casinos?
By 16nm on 12/29/2008 11:01:54 AM , Rating: 2
Better yet, have Joe Pesci crack some bats over some heads


Cheech or Chong?
By The0ne on 12/29/2008 2:59:43 PM , Rating: 2
he looks like one of the guy, guess who :)




RE: Cheech or Chong?
By Kibbles on 12/29/2008 4:30:56 PM , Rating: 2
I know! The white one?


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