Comverse's Ex-CEO Found in Namibia

Excerpt from our One-Page WSJ Summary:

A Fugitive's Haven In Africa Turned Out To Be Anything But

Summary: All good things must come to an end. Kobi Alexander, co-founder and former CEO of Comverse (CMVT) who turned fugitive in August has been arrested in the Namibian capital of Windhoek. Mr. Alexander founded the voice mail technology company in the early 80's. CMVT currently has 5,000 employees and $1.2 billion in annual revenue. Mr. Alexander faces a 32-count indictment: On July 31 the FBI issued a warrant for his arrest due to options back-dating, and he and the former CFO were also accused of creating a secret options slush fund with grants to phony employees. In July, apparently knowing about the investigation, he transferred $57 million to an Israeli bank account. Then, about a month ago, he wired tens of millions of dollars to an account in Namibia where he'd arrived just days earlier. A Namibian official reported the suspicious transfer to Interpol which updated the FBI. Yesterday, Namibian officials filed with the parliament to seek his arrest.
Related links: Full WSJ article • Comverse Charged in Options Backdating Probe • Comverse CEO Goes AWOL After Being Charged by the Feds • 'Heart of Darkness' Redux: Comverse CEO Found Hiding in Sri Lankan Fishing Village • WSJ Options Scandal Scorecard WSJ: Unsealed Indictment

Seeking Alpha's One-Page Annotated Wall Street Journal Summary summarizes all the major stock-related articles in today's WSJ. Receive it by email every morning (free/no spam). Sign up here.

Seeking Alpha is not affiliated with The Wall St. Journal.

Comment on this article