One-man C-suite Michael Koss and the company that bears his name settled with the SEC […]
Tag: Michael Koss
Sue Sachdeva’s Defense Team Provides Hysterical Argument for a Lighter Prison Sentence
Koss embezzlement mastermind Sue Sachdeva will receive her prison sentence tomorrow for ripping the headphone cobbler off to the tune of $34 million. Yesterday, the government’s sentencing memorandum (full document after the jump) was released and the prosecution and defense each made their arguments for a heavier/lighter prison sentence.
Naturally, the prosecution is seeking the maximum sentence, as is Koss CEO Michael Koss, who wrote a letter to the court with his thoughts:
“She stole from the hardworking employees of the company and their families, and ultimately the stockholders of the company,” Koss wrote. “They are the true victims of her crimes.”
Yes! The shareholders! Including the Koss family members who 67% owned of the stock ! Especially the ones who held five executive positions at once!
But never mind that for two. Tracy Coenen breaks down the defense’s argument for S-squared to receive a lighter sentence and it’s a hoot:
They argued that Sue Sachdeva should get a lighter sentence because:
a. she’s been a law-abiding citizen until now
b. the fraud was “simple”
c. and poor, poor Sue has a “compulsive shopping disorder”
Jump over to Tracy’s post for more analysis but our take on these three reasons are as follows:
A. “Until now,” as in “right up to the moment she pleaded guilty”? If so, that sorta ignores a scam that went on for over a decade.
B. Again, so simple that it went on for over ten years? You’re really making the Koss management look like a bunch of idiots…Wait, maybe they’re on to something here.
C. Please. Show us someone who wasn’t addicted to shopping in the 90s and 00s.
Accounting News Roundup: Deloitte Makes London Its Legal Home; Estate Tax ‘Dithering’; Koss’s Comp Jumped Last Year | 09.21.10
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu quits Swiss system to make UK its new legal home [The Guardian]
“With zero fanfare, Britain has gained a multinational. The global accountanc ouche Tohmatsu has quietly shifted its legal registration from Switzerland to London, flying in the face of threats by other City firms to flee the Square Mile.
The firm, which has 169,000 staff around the world and is vying with PricewaterhouseCoopers for the title of the world’s biggest professional services group, is thought to have moved because of legal controversy surrounding its previous status as an obscure Swiss entity known as a verein – a membership structure originally intended for sports clubs, voluntary organisations and unions.
The change – which became effective over the summer but was not announced publicly by Deloitte – has little tax implication for the Treasury because Deloitte’s decentralised structure means taxes are paid by its member firms on a country-by-country basis. But it amounts to a vote of confidence in English corporate law over Switzerland’s regime.”
H.P. Settles Lawsuit Against Hurd [NYT]
“A fierce and public feud between Oracle and Hewlett-Packard, two of the world’s largest technology companies, has ended after all of two weeks.
On Monday, the companies announced a settlement to a dispute that centered on Oracle’s hiring of Mark V. Hurd, the former chief executive of H.P., as a president. H.P. sued Mr. Hurd this month, claiming he would violate agreements to protect H.P.’s secrets by taking on such a high-level role at Oracle. The parties declined to reveal details about the settlement but said Mr. Hurd would protect H.P.’s confidential information.
However, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, H.P. said it had modified its separation agreement with Mr. Hurd. He effectively waived about half the compensation owed him. Mr. Hurd agreed to give up his rights to the 330,177 performance-based restricted stock units granted to him on Jan. 17, 2008, and to the 15,853 time-based restricted stock units granted on Dec. 11, 2009.”
FinancialForce gets jiggy with iPad [AccMan]
FinancialForce snags Life Champions from Sage with the lure of the iPad: “Field agents will be equipped with iPads and will record new opportunities directly in Salesforce CRM. Credit card payments can be processed on the spot and transactions seamlessly created in FinancialForce Accounting.”
Tax Preparer Who Threatened Prosecutor Is Sentenced to 3 to 6 Years [New York Law Journal]
“A tax preparer who sent threatening letters to a Manhattan assistant district attorney who had twice prosecuted him was sentenced Friday to three to six years behind bars.
Prosecutors arrested Jack Chang, 55, last summer after Gilda Mariani, the chief of the money laundering and tax crime unit in the district attorney’s office, received two ominous letters. One was addressed to her husband at her home and contained a white powder that turned out to be cornstarch. The other was delivered through interoffice mail.
Both depicted a tombstone with Mariani’s name and contained virtually the same message: ‘I finally got my 9 mil gun and I am insane, you are responsible for my insanity and I will make sure that you get at least one for each and every year I spent incarcerated.’ “
Caron: The Costs of Estate Tax Dithering [TaxProf Blog]
“President Obama was widely criticized for ‘dithering’ over the decision of whether to add more troops in the Afghanistan War. Yet Presidents and Congresses over the past decade escaped similar opprobrium for ‘dithering’ in the face of the long-scheduled one-year repeal of the estate tax beginning January 1, 2010, to be followed by the reinstatement of the tax on January 1, 2011. Although the “smart money” agreed after the passage of the Bush tax cuts in 2001 that the Administration and Congress would never allow the repeal-reinstatement scenario to play out, that is precisely where we now find ourselves.”
Hiring of town accountant upsets group [Seacoastonline]
They’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it any more.
Pay package increases for Koss CEO [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]
“Michael Koss, the top executive at Koss Corp., received a 41.6% boost in his pay package last year, the same fiscal year that an embezzlement of about $34 million was discovered at the company, new documents filed with regulators disclosed.”
Koss Fraud May Have Been Due, in No Small Part, to Michael Koss Holding Five Executive Positions
[caption id="attachment_3471" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Hi. I\'m Sue and I\'m a shopaholic "]
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It’s been nearly three weeks since we last picked up the Koss/Sue Sachdeva beat, when we told you about Michael Koss resigning as the audit committee chair of Strattec Security Corp. At that time, Strattec had also elected to give Grant Thornton the boot as its auditor.
Over the weekend, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel posted a lengthy-ish piece on the “relaxed oversight and lax controls” as the opportunity for the chronic shop ’til you dropper Sue Sachdeva to make off with $31 million. These particular issues (i.e. incestuous management and virtually no internal controls) are a matter of record although it’s interesting to note the new details that come to light.
The article mentions how Michael Koss managed to “serve” in five executive roles at the company: vice chairman, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, president and chief financial officer. PLUS, the aforementioned audit committee chairmanship at Strattec.
Now, we’re not entirely sure what the responsibilities would be for each of the positions at Koss but at a regular company, one of these jobs would result in some or possibly all of the following: insomnia, workaholism, a drug problem, an ugly divorce. Throw in the responsibilities of an audit committee chairmanship and one would assume that Michael Koss walked across Lake Michigan to get to work.
Oh, and just so you’re aware, the Journal Sentinel brings up that MK was an anthropology major. You may have some opinions about that.
The JS also spoke to one of the women that was fired along with Suze, Tracy Malone, who “still speaks highly of the company, although it fired her and objected to her claim for unemployment compensation.” Koss fired Malone because they allege that she “she knew of the misappropriation of funds but failed to report it to superiors.” Ms Malone’s attorney has stated these allegations are false.
So hang on a minute. Your lawyer says you were fired under “false allegations”, the company rejects your claim for unemployment comp, and you still speak highly of said company? Yeesh, have some self-respect lady.
Theft at Koss blamed on relaxed attitude, lax oversight [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Quote of the Day: Is Michael Koss a Sad or Happy Clown? | 03.04.10
“Michael Koss is a clown. He does not belong on the board of directors of any company. He needs to be minding his own company, and until he can clean things up there, he should not be allowed to go outside and play.”
~ Tracy Coenen, on Mr Koss’ resignation as the Audit Committee Chairman of Strattec Security Corp.