Former startup CEO pleads guilty to conning San Diego's Qualcomm in $150M fraud scheme

The federal case involves a former Qualcomm executive who allegedly helped dupe the San Diego company into purchasing a startup for technology that he secretly created while on its payroll

One of the architects of a scheme to defraud more than $150 million from San Diego-based tech giant Qualcomm pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday.

Sanjiv Taneja, a Northern California resident, served as the CEO of a startup that was sold to Qualcomm to acquire a technology that it technically owned already. Taneja pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering related to a $1.5 million transaction involving proceeds from the fraudulent deal.

Last year, a federal grand jury indicted four people, including Taneja, and San Diego residents Karim Arabi and Ali Akbar Shokouhi.

Arabi, 57, previously served as Qualcomm’s vice president of research and development and came up with a faster method for evaluating micro-processors during the “design for test” process while working at the company. Under terms of Arabi’s employment agreement, intellectual property created while he was on Qualcomm’s payroll belonged to the company.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2023-08-11/former-startup-ceo-pleads-guilty-to-conning-san-diegos-qualcomm-in-150m-fraud-scheme