Former Comverse CEO Kobi Alexander, who was convicted in New York of securities offences, was sentenced today.
Alexander has been under arrest for six months, after the court refused to release him to home arrest on recognizance of $25 million.
Comverse, founded by Alexander, was a technology company that pioneered voicemail.
Alexander was sentenced to thirty months jail for securities fraud, for which the maximum sentence is ten years.
He was convicted of backdating options and fraud and fled the US for Namibia, with which the US has no extradition agreement, ten years ago.
Six months ago he gave himself up to the US authorities, after it seemed likely that unless he did so of his own accord he would be extradited by the authorities in Namibia.
Alexander’s lawyers were quoted in the media as asking the court to sentence him to two years imprisonment, from which his period of arrest would be deducted.
Alexander himself addressed the court in writing, detailing his community work in Namibia during his stay there.
The ex-CEO of a tech company was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars Thursday in Brooklyn court for securities fraud.
Jacob “Kobi” Alexander pleaded guilty last August to back-dating stock options for his voicemail software company, Comverse Technology, after spending a decade on the lam in Namibia.
The Israeli national, 64, made $30 million in the scheme that spanned from 1998 to 2006 but prosecutors argue shareholders lost $800 million as news of the scandal emerged and the company collapsed.
Alexander also paid back $60 million in restitution to the Comverse shareholders and $54 million to the SEC as part of his plea agreement.