Ex-Qualcomm vice president convicted in $180 million fraud scheme

A former Qualcomm vice president was convicted by a San Diego federal jury Tuesday of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme worth million the U S Attorney s Office commented Karim Arabi former vice president of the Research and Expansion Department was convicted following a four-week trial and less than two days of deliberation authorities declared in a release Related Articles Silicon Valley AI startup founder sentenced for securities fraud Several Bay Area cemeteries shut down by state agency due to financial mismanagement Former California man pleads guilty in affair involving sale of bogus memorabilia with fake celebrity autographs Increasingly dangerous scam targets kids through sextortion Here s how to prevent fight back against sextortion The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Arabi and others conned Qualcomm into purchasing a startup company whose tool it already owned per its employment agreement with Arabi The defendant took advantage of the trust placed in him lining his pockets with millions by orchestrating a scheme to deceive and then bleed his own employer Acting U S Attorney Andrew Haden stated in a announcement According to prosecutors any intellectual property developed by Arabi while on Qualcomm s payroll belonged to the San Diego tech giant At specific point during his employment with Qualcomm in the mid- s Arabi developed a new method to evaluate micro-processors Arabi concealing his involvement with fake names and email accounts marketed the progress to Qualcomm under the guise of a startup company Qualcomm purchased the company for million in with an upfront payment of million Dr Arabi created fake email accounts and sent phony emails to impersonate his sister Sheida Alan the supposed inventor of the new tool the U S Attorney s Office disclosed in a release Alan legally changed her last name from Arabi to further conceal her relationship with Dr Arabi executives explained Alan was paid nearly million under the deal according to evidence presented at trial executives commented Following the sale Arabi and the co-conspirators allegedly used foreign real-estate purchases to launder the funds Arabi along with Alan Ali Akbar Shokouhi who had also been a vice president at Qualcomm and Sanjiv Taneja who served as the startup s CEO were indicted in Taneja and Shokouhi both pleaded guilty to money laundering prior to Arabi s trial and are set to be sentenced this summer Alan is pending extradition to the United States from Canada according to prosecutors statements made in court Arabi faces a maximum of years in prison for each of the three charges he was convicted of and fines of up to million Prosecutors revealed in court that they expect to seek million in restitution He is due to be sentenced on June