Litigation

Genuine remorse from Sachdeva? Laughable.

By Tracy Coenen

Yesterday, Sue Sachdeva was sentenced to 11 years in prison for her $34 million theft from her employer, Koss Corp.  I predicted a little slap on the wrist of 5 to 7 years, so she got two little slaps instead.

The Washington Post is reporting that Judge Lynn Adelman gave her less than the 15 to 20 years requested by the prosecutor because of her “acceptance of responsibility and the genuineness of her remorse.”

Did he read the sentencing memorandum that Sue’s defense counsel filed on her behalf? I did. And I didn’t see much acceptance of responsibility or genuine remorse. What I saw was a woman who got caught and was trying to get a lighter sentence.

How remorseful can she be when almost her entire 25 page sentencing memo is full of excuses for why she shouldn’t be held (as) responsible?  5 pages are spent on her alleged mental health problems, which seem to me an easy scapegoat for her behavior.

A page is spent making the case that she didn’t steal the money and then spend it. Nooooo…. she spent money she didn’t have, and then stole to pay the bills. This is somehow different, according to Sachdeva and her attorneys. (Don’t believe me? Read the bottom of page 15 and the top of page 16 to see this unbelievable explanation!)

But even better is the 2 pages spent throwing employee Julie Mulvaney under the bus! The lawyers claim Sachdeva isn’t responsible for the cover-up. Mulvaney is the one who covered up the fraud!!! They say she worked “independently and without direct supervision to reconcile the company’s ledgers with the available cash, and only minimally shared her methods with Sachdeva.”

If that isn’t evidence of a complete lack of taking responsibility, I don’t know what is.

Full post as published by The FRAUDfiles Blog on November 18, 2010 (boomark / email).