After he entered his plea, telling U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in the Eastern district of the U.S. District Court, “I deeply regret having participated in this conduct”, the judge fiercely rejected defense lawyer Ben Brafman’s argument that Alexander should get bail pending sentencing because he had returned voluntarily.
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Hana Alexander (2nd l.), wife of Jacob (Kobi) Alexander departs with family members from Brooklyn federal court after a hearing in NY.
“His intelligence and his guile are a clear indication that he can’t be trusted”, Garaufis said.
“We are bitterly disappointed” in the bail decision, Alexander’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman told reporters. It was unclear if Alexander would appeal.
Alexander vanished in 2006 while under investigation for backdating stock options for his Woodbury-based company, voicemail software maker Comverse Technology Inc.
Alexander told Garaufis that he and others at Comverse used “hindsight” to select the effective dates for granting options.
Alexander, 64, who is an Israeli citizen and legal resident of the US, fled to Africa in 2006 with his wife and three young children after learning that he was under investigation by the feds for a scheme to backdate stock options.
In the 10-year old, 35-count indictment that sparked his flight to the southwest African nation of Namibia, Alexander was facing 20 years in prison. He later turned up in the Republic of Namibia, where he lived comfortably with his family while fighting extradition.
Extradition proceedings were still pending when Alexander reached a deal in May to return to the United States to plead guilty to the single count.
Alexander had been charged along with William Sorin, Comverse’s general counsel, and David Kreinberg, its finance chief, for what prosecutors called a fraudulent scheme to reap millions of dollars from backdating between 1998 and 2001.
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Prosecutors say the Israeli-born Alexander fled to Namibia in July 2006 after learning that charges were likely. Kreinberg was spared prison after pleading guilty. The government says it applied $60 million that Alexander forfeited in restitution as compensation for Comverse shareholders.
