A top executive at Fry's Electronics Inc. has been arrested on federal charges that he defrauded the retailer of $65 million in a kickback scheme, using much of the money to repay huge ******** debts at Las Vegas casinos.
Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, a onetime computer salesman who worked his way up to vice president of merchandising and operations at the privately held San Jose, Calif., company, allegedly charged vendors commissions of as much as 31% in exchange for agreeing to buy merchandise at inflated prices, according to court documents. He then allegedly funneled the money to astraw company he created called PC International LLC.
[A Fry's Electronics store in Wilsonville, Ore. An executive of the retailer was charged in a kickback scheme that defrauded it of $65 million. ] Associated Press
A Fry's Electronics store in Wilsonville, Ore. An executive of the retailer was charged in a kickback scheme that defrauded it of $65 million.
Mr. Siddiqui, whom investigators described as a well-dressed compulsive gambler with a penchant for fast cars, allegedly used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle that included driving a Ferrari and spending tens of millions of dollars at Las Vegas casinos such as the MGM Grand and Venetian. His straw company wired almost $18 million to subsidiaries of Las Vegas Sands Corp. to help cover his casino ******** losses, prosecutors say.
