We've been doing a lot of writing about backdating lately but what about the poster-child for criminal backdating fugitives, Kobi Alexander? The founder of Comverse vanished after US authorities sought to arrest him on charges related to backdating, securities fraud and bribery. He later turned up in Namibia, where he was arrested by authorities and awaits an extradition hearing in April.
Over the weekend, Bloomberg reported that Alexander has started a low-income home construction business in Namibia.
His Namibian company, Kobi Alexander Enterprises, has already developed two projects in the coastal city of Walvis Bay involving the construction of 200 houses for low-income residents, the company said in an advertisement yesterday in The Namibian, a local newspaper.“Mr. Kobi Alexander, its founder, brings with him a wealth of business acumen,” the advertisement said. “He is the founder of Comverse Technology, the world’s leading supplier of enhanced services for telecommunications companies."
We can only imagine how that "business acumen" line strikes the US prosecutors who have done their best to paint Alexander as the worst sort of corporate criminal.
U.S. Fugitive Starts Over in Namibia [Bloomberg in NYT]
Posted by Bob , Feb 26, 2007 1:20PM
What a desperate and shameless attempt to curry favor of the Namibians in advance of his extradition hearing. If he isn't extradited, we should send Dog the Bounty Hunter after him.
Posted by Zbignew , Feb 26, 2007 1:32PM
How is he paying for all this? DOJ hasn't done a good job of freezing his assets if he's stll writing checks. Or is his Namibian philanthropy funded by a) other investor's cash, or b) a pillowcase stuffed full of hundred dollar bills that never leaves his side?
Posted by Brent , Feb 27, 2007 3:23AM
Below is a snipet from another site, which proves to be interesting...
Before being arrested on Sept. 27, Mr. Alexander transferred 120 million Namibian dollars ($16.9 million) from Israel to Namibia and was granted a two-year work permit on a pledge to spend 300 million Namibian dollars in the country.
Mmm... Africa can be a strange place when it comes to money...
Posted by A Guy , Mar 09, 2007 4:28PM
What is the difference between him and Steve Jobs exactly? Why is one persecuted and the other who is accused of perpetrating the same offence is an all-American darling?