Jacob "Kobi" Alexander (; born May 4, 1952) is an Israeli-American businessman. He is the founder and the former
CEO of
New York-based
Comverse Technology
Comverse Technology, Inc., often referred to as simply Comverse, was a technology company located in Woodbury, New York in the United States, that developed and marketed telecommunications software. The company focused on providing value-added ...
. In 2006, he was charged with multiple counts of
fraud and related offenses pertaining to irregularities in trading of Comverse stock; he subsequently fled to
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, a nation which has no
extradition treaty
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
with the US.
Education
Alexander earned degrees in economics from
Hebrew University in Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
and finance from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
.
Career
A major breakthrough came when Alexander convinced Swiss telecom giant Ascom to invest US$6 million in the company in the mid 1980s, providing Comverse the capital it needed at that time. In 1986, Alexander was able to take Comverse public on the
NASDAQ.
Alexander also formerly owned 25% of the Israeli basketball team
Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C.
Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל מכבי תל אביב), known for sponsorship reasons as Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (), is a professional basketball club based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The team plays in the Israe ...
Awards and accomplishments
In addition to Comverse Technology, Alexander spun off and took public several other companies including Ulticom (NASDAQ: ULCM) and
Verint Systems
Verint Systems is a Melville, New York-based analytics company which was founded in 2002. The company sells software and hardware products for customer engagement management and business intelligence. Their products are designed to assist clie ...
(NASDAQ: VRNT). Companies under his leadership were listed in Barron's 500, Business Week: "Hot Growth Companies", "Business Week 50", Business Week: "The Information Technology 100", Financial World: "America's Best 100 Growth Companies", Fortune: "100 Fastest Growing Companies"', International Business: "100 Fastest-Growing International Companies", Wall Street Journal: "10-Year Best Performers", and Wall Street Journal "Honor Roll", among others. In 2006, Comverse was named one of Institutional Investor: America's Most Shareholder-Friendly Companies". "As CEO of Comverse, Alexander was sought out by the likes of former Chinese President
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...
, who slipped away from official meetings in 2000 and steered his motorcade through a pot-holed section of Tel Aviv to meet with him." He served as the
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
of CTI from 1987 to May 1, 2006, when he resigned during an investigation being conducted by a Special Committee of CTI's
Board of Directors into the timing of CTI's
stock option grants. He was Chairman of several CTI subsidiaries, including
Verint Systems
Verint Systems is a Melville, New York-based analytics company which was founded in 2002. The company sells software and hardware products for customer engagement management and business intelligence. Their products are designed to assist clie ...
and Ulticom.
Criminal charges
On July 31, 2006, Alexander was charged by
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
authorities with multiple charges of
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
to commit various types of
fraud (including
securities fraud
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...
,
wire fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
and
mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
), as well as with related offences, all relating to the timing of Comverse's stock option grants.
After Alexander left the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
on June 21, 2006, on a pre-planned annual vacation in Israel, his lawyers arranged with American authorities that he would return to face
indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...
on July 30, 2006; however, he instead traveled to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. On July 31 a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On August 9, 2006, the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against marke ...
filed a civil injunctive action in the
against Alexander, along with alleged co-conspirators
William F. Sorin, Comverse's former Senior General Counsel, and
David Kreinberg
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, Comverse's former
Chief Financial Officer. The complaint makes nine claims of violation of the
Securities Act
The Securities Act of 1933, also known as the 1933 Act, the Securities Act, the Truth in Securities Act, the Federal Securities Act, and the '33 Act, was enacted by the United States Congress on May 27, 1933, during the Great Depression and after ...
and the
Exchange Act, including fraud (First and Second Claims), and falsification of books, records or accounts (Fourth Claim). Through this action, the Commission is seeking
permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil damages, and a prohibition against any of the defendants becoming officers of a securities-issuing entity under SEC jurisdiction.
Alexander transferred over 40 million dollars from his personal U.S. bank account to his personal bank account in Israel. He was arrested by
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
in
Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
on September 27, 2006. He was released on bail on October 3, 2006. According to a Reuters report of April 23, 2007, the Namibian government described Alexander as "very passionate" about the country and its people; Alexander has promised to boost academic interest in science and technology in Namibia by establishing an annual scholarship for primary and secondary level students. He has also begun to introduce advanced technology to the country with his development of a low budget solar powered housing project for 100 low-income Namibian families.
Despite fighting extradition to the United States, Alexander announced on January 28, 2008, that he has filed suit against Comverse. Alexander claims the firm owes him $72 million in severance, unexercised stock options, and bonus pay.
On July 3, 2008, a Namibian court split decisions for and against Alexander granting his request to remove the judge currently assigned to preside at his extradition hearing while declining to assign a magistrate of his choosing. Additionally, the Namibian High Court did not, at Alexander's attorneys' request, rule unconstitutional the Extradition Act which would allow Alexander to be imprisoned at some point during the upcoming extradition hearing. As reported by Bloomberg.com on November 19, 2008, a hearing to request Alexander's extradition to the United States was postponed until March 4, 2009, pending Alexander's appeal to Namibia's Supreme Court regarding which judge should hear the case. This appeal, not yet scheduled, will likely be adjudicated in March or April 2009.
The final outcome of the extradition proceedings can be several years away pending the appeals process. Despite impending extradition proceedings, Alexander has invested heavily within the country.
In 2011, Alexander settled the civil charges with the SEC and gave up bank accounts worth $46 million to federal authorities.
On August 22, 2016, it was reported by Scott Cohn on
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
that Alexander would return to the US to face criminal charges. On February 23, 2017, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York sentenced Alexander to 30 months in prison. On March 1, 2018, Alexander was transferred to Israel to carry out his remaining sentence. In October 2018 it was reported that he had recently been released from prison.
Revealed: Israel's cyber-spy industry helps world dictators hunt dissidents and gays
Hagar Shezaf, Jonathan Jacobson, Oct. 19, 2018, Haaretz
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Kobi
1952 births
Living people
American fraudsters
Businesspeople from New York (state)
American expatriates in Namibia
Fugitive financiers
Fugitives wanted by the United States
Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni
Israeli businesspeople
Israeli emigrants to the United States
Israeli Jews
New York University Stern School of Business alumni
American white-collar criminals