Ausaf Umar Siddiqui (born 1966) also known as Omar Siddiqui, is a Pakistani-American former corporate executive who was a vice president of

Fry's Electronics Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...

. He is known to have gambled over $162 million in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

from 2005 to 2008 after

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

money from his employer through money-laundering and wire fraud. He pled guilty and declared bankruptcy in 2011 after remaining listed as $137 million in debt.

Business background

Siddiqui was hired by Fry's Electronics in 1988. Omar was promoted to

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the company. He received an annual salary of $225,000. Siddiqui negotiated with suppliers to pay higher prices in exchange for kickbacks which amounted to as much as 31%. He set up a shell company PC International, which hid the $65.6 million in kickbacks.

Gambling

Siddiqui reportedly wire transferred $70.4 million to The Venetian between 2005 and 2008. He was known by casino employees as a "blackjack machine", according to one casino industry veteran "you couldn’t deal fast enough". Siddiqui gambled so fast he would "red line the house limit". Siddiqui was also known as a lavish spender who enjoyed fast cars, bottles of Dom Perignon Rose and bowls of Glitterati Mentissimo peppermints. According to IRS Agent Andres Gonzalez, Siddiqui spent $162 million at

MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The MGM Grand is the largest single hotel in the world with 6,852 rooms. It is also the third-largest hotel complex in the world by number of rooms ...

and Las Vegas Sands casinos. Suspicion began in 2005, when an employee saw "confidential spreadsheets, letters and extraordinarily high commission amounts on Siddiqui’s desk". Siddiqui had claimed he was a co-owner of the company. One company, Phoebe Micro of Fremont, claimed it was the victim of Siddiqui. General manager, Peter Liu said Siddiqui asked to pay a "high marketing fee so Fry’s would prominently display Phoebe’s products". Siddiqui is considered among the largest losers in casino gambling history. He was sentenced to six years in prison for his crimes after he pled guilty to "one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering" in a plea deal where the government agreed to drop seven other felonies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqui, Ausaf Umar 1966 births Living people Pakistani businesspeople Pakistani gamblers Pakistani emigrants to the United States