Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, Vice President of Fry’s Electronics, manages a unique spot here on this blog. Not only was he being a Class A Executive Jerk, he managed to get caught in what might possibly be the stupidest way ever. First, the part that makes him a rich jerk who only wanted to get richer.
Siddiqui allegedly often bought the goods at higher prices than he could have received in exchange for kick backs of up to 31% of the total sales price according to the Associated Press. The kickbacks were funneled into a company that Siddiqui set up called PC International.
The IRS reports that five unnamed vendors had made deposits into accounts owned by PC International totaling $65.6 million. Of the amounts deposited, a massive sum of $17.9 million was paid out to Las Vegas Sands Corp, the operator of the Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas according to complaints filed in the case.
Siddiqui’s gambling habits were so massive that the casino would charter private jets to fly him to Las Vegas to gamble.
He managed to embezzle $65.6 million dollars. That is not a small number! And, of course, he blows it all in casinos. You know he was losing the big bucks when the casino flies the guy out. Vegas was practically importing money in the shape of one loser millionare.
But despite the gambling, in order to shave that much money off of your company, you’ve got to be pretty smart, right? You’ve really got to stay ahead of the game when that much money is involved. You know, be organized. And I know what’s organized…spreadsheets! Those’ll keep all those pesky bribes and kickbacks in order.
The IRS claims that the deals for the massive commissions that Siddiqui had brokered were in exchange for guaranteeing that he’d keep the products stocked on shelves. The elaborate and lucrative scheme toppled when Siddiqui left spreadsheets on his desk outlining the payments and alleged kickbacks.
The spreadsheets were discovered by another Fry’s executive while Siddiqui was away from the office. The other unnamed executive took the spreadsheets and turned them over to authorities. After receiving the spreadsheets, the IRS looked into Siddiqui’s bank records and found evidence that a total of $167.8 million had been deposited into the shell company’s accounts. The five Fry’s suppliers had made a total of 70 wire transfers into the accounts totaling $65.6 million. The suppliers were not named as defendants in the case. (source)
Yes, you read that right. The man organized his illegal ventures into one handy dandy spreadsheet, then left it on his desk for anyone to see. Talk about a paper trail.