Go straight to jail
Judge denies bail bid for guilty Kobi
The disgraced technology executive who spent a decade on the lam to avoid charges in a US stock fraud case, returned to face justice on Wednesday — and was promptly tossed behind bars without bail by a fed-up judge who didn’t buy that he wasn’t a flight risk.
Jacob “Kobi” Alexander, the founder and ex-CEO of voicemail software firm Comverse Technology, in a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in the 2006 case.
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.
The 64-year-old exec made $60 million by backdating stock options for years, prosecutors said in court on Wednesday.
“I deeply regret having participated in this conduct,” Alexander told Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis in admitting he used hindsight to rake in profits between 1998 and 2001.
He faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $1 million fine under his plea agreement — although his lawyer is pressing for no jail.
Alexander appeared pale and sported graying hair as his high-powered lawyer Benjamin Brafman unsuc- cessfully argued that he be sprung on $25 million bail.
A steamed Garaufis, who has presided over the case since its inception, wasn’t buying Brafman’s case.
“He didn’t come back with empty hands,” the judge sniped. “He came back with a deal. It wasn’t voluntarily, it was bargained for.”
“He’s sizing up the situation on this side of the bench,” Garaufis added, referring to himself. “So, spare me. I wasn’t born yesterday.”
Alexander’s family had no comment as they left the courtroom in tears.
“We are bitterly disappointed,” Brafman told reporters.
Alexander paid $60 million in restitution to Comverse shareholders and $54 million to settle similar SEC charges.
Alexander, an Israeli citizen and permanent resident in the US, will be sentenced Dec. 16.