Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva, 46, of Mequon, Wisconsin, was indicted yesterday by a grand jury in Milwaukee on six counts of wire fraud for her alleged embezzlement of as much as $31 million from Koss Corporation, a publicly traded head phone manufacturer where she had been employed as Vice President of Finance, Secretary, and Principal Accounting Officer. According to the indictment, Sachdeva authorized numerous wire transfers of funds from company bank accounts to pay for her American Express credit card bills and obtained cashier's checks to pay for personal expenses. Further, Sachdeva attempted conceal her fraud by directing other Koss employees to make numerous fraudulent entries in Koss’ books and records. The indictment alleges that her embezzlement scheme commenced in January 2004 and lasted nearly six years until December 2009. According to indictment, Sachdeva use the proceeds of her fraud to purchase her home in Mequon, Wisconsin, a vacation ownership interest in the Princeville Ocean Resort Village on Kauai, Hawaii, a 2007 Mercedes Benz automobile and numerous personal luxury items, including clothing, jewelry and art objects. The indictment seeks to seize those items as well as numerous other luxury items located in two storage units in Milwaukee and held at five luxury stores in the area. Each wire fraud count carries a sentence of 20 years in prison plus a fine of $250,000, if convicted. She was arrested in December after the results of an internal investigation were turned over to authorities. She had been employed by Koss as vice president of finance since 1992. Until recently, Sachdeva sat on the Board of Trustees of Cardinal Stritch University and her husband, Ramesh C. Sachdeva, is a prominent pediatrician in the area. He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at Marquette University. Ramesh Sachdeva has not been accused at this time of complicity in her scheme. According to her attorney, Michael F. Hart, Esq., principal in the law firm of Kohler & Hart, LLP, and a prominent criminal defense attorney in Milwaukee, one defense planned for Sachdeva is mental health. Hart is quoted as saying, "We intend to show that mental health issues played a substantial role in Ms. Sachdeva's conduct."Read the DOJ announcement here.
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