Ex-Qualcomm vice president convicted in $180 million fraud scheme

A former Qualcomm vice president was convicted by a San Diego federal jury Tuesday of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme worth $180 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Karim Arabi, former vice president of the Research and Development Department, was convicted following a four-week trial and “less than two” days of deliberation, officials said in a release.

The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Arabi and others conned Qualcomm into purchasing a startup company whose technology it already owned per its employment agreement with Arabi.

“The defendant took advantage of the trust placed in him, lining his pockets with millions by orchestrating a scheme to deceive and then bleed his own employer,” Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, any intellectual property developed by Arabi while on Qualcomm’s payroll belonged to the San Diego tech giant.

At some point during his employment with Qualcomm, in the mid-2010s, Arabi developed a new method to evaluate micro-processors.

Arabi, concealing his involvement with fake names and email accounts, marketed the development to Qualcomm under the guise of a startup company.

Qualcomm purchased the company for $180 million in 2015 with an upfront payment of $150 million.

“Dr. Arabi created fake email accounts and sent phony emails to impersonate his sister, Sheida Alan, the supposed inventor of the new technology,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.

Alan legally changed her last name from Arabi to “further conceal her relationship with Dr. Arabi,” officials said.

Alan was paid nearly $92 million under the deal, according to evidence presented at trial, officials said.

Following the sale, Arabi and the co-conspirators allegedly used foreign real-estate purchases to launder the funds.

Arabi, along with Alan, Ali Akbar Shokouhi, who had also been a vice president at Qualcomm, and Sanjiv Taneja, who served as the “startup’s” CEO, were indicted in 2022.

Taneja and Shokouhi both pleaded guilty to money laundering prior to Arabi’s trial and are set to be sentenced this summer.

Alan is pending extradition to the United States from Canada, according to prosecutors’ statements made in court.

Arabi faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the three charges he was convicted of and fines of up to $1 million.

Prosecutors said in court that they expect to seek $89.5 million in restitution.

He is due to be sentenced on June 27.