$31-mn fraud: Indian-American woman exec indicted

An Indian-American woman executive was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury before a US court in Wisconsin on charges of defrauding her company to the tune of a whopping $31 million.

United States Attorney James Santelle announced that a grand jury sitting in Milwaukee Court returned a six-count indictment charging Sujata Sachdeva (46), who is also known as Sue Sachdeva, with six counts of wire fraud. Sachdeva is the former vice president of finance, secretary, and principal accounting officer for Koss Corporation, a publicly traded company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Koss is known as manufacturer of stereo headphones, speakers and related products. "This case is one of the largest embezzlement cases ever brought in this district and demonstrates the ongoing commitment of this office and the FBI to investigate and prosecute white collar offenses," Santelle said.

If convicted, Sachdeva faces a total maximum penalty of up to 120 years in prison and fines of up to $1.5 million, plus forfeiture of the items identified in the indictment and restitution.

The indictment alleges that Sachdeva used her position at Koss to fraudulently obtain more than $31 million from Koss, which she used to purchase personal items and pay for personal expenses.

According to the indictment, Sachdeva authorised numerous wire transfers of funds from bank accounts maintained by Koss to pay for her American Express credit card bills.

In addition, Sachdeva used money from Koss's bank accounts to fund numerous cashier's checks, which she also used to pay her personal expenses.

Sachdeva used the money she fraudulently obtained from Koss to purchase personal items including women's clothing, furs, purses, shoes, jewelry, automobiles, china, statues, and other household furnishings.

Sachdeva also used the money to pay for hotels, airline tickets, and other travel expenses for herself and others, to pay for renovations and improvements to her home, and to compensate individuals providing personal services to her and her family, the indictment alleged.

According to the indictment, Sachdeva sought to conceal her fraud by directing other Koss employees to make numerous fraudulent entries in Koss's books and records to make it appear that Sachdeva's fraudulent transfers were legitimate business transactions.

She directed Koss employees to conceal her fraudulent transfers as well as the fraudulent entries in Koss's books and records from Koss's management and auditors.

The indictment also seeks the forfeiture ofu property alleged to have been purchased with the proceeds of Sachdeva's fraud should she be convicted in this matter.

Image: Sujata Sachdeva