Kobi Alexander’s extradition hearing in Namibia is happening today (might’ve already happened, not sure with the time difference). The biggest charge in his 35-count federal indictment is money laundering. But he may not be going downtown for his little fraud dealings. Why? Since he fled to his African hideaway last October, Alexander’s been building affordable housing units, setting up scholarships for gifted students, and generally doing good humanitarian-type stuff*. The kind of stuff that might perhaps save one from those damn U.S. white-collar criminal courts. Someone had to say it.

And apparently we’re not the only cynical assholes to think this might be the case. CNBC’s Senior African Extradition Hearing Correspondent and Windhoek Bureau Chief, Scott Cohn, wondered aloud yesterday, “Of all the places in the world that need help with education, why Namibia? Could it be because in this young country—just 17 years old—money laundering, per se, is not a crime?”

According to Alexander’s attorney, absolutely not. Kobi’s not trying to buy off Namibia. As “an Israeli citizen,” Richard Metcalfe said yesterday, “Alexander is continuing the esteemed Jewish tradition of t’zedakah— good works, charity, empowering those less fortunate.”

Update: Hearing postponed to June 25.

Reporter’s Diary: ‘Kobi’ Alexander’s Namibia [CNBC]

*with what not a few people believe is shareholder money.

In honor of former Comverse CEO Kobi Alexander’s extradition hearing taking place today in Namibia, CNBC sent its Senior African Extradition Hearing Correspondent and Windhoek Bureau Chief, Scott Cohn, who’s apparently never left the network’s Englewood Cliffs Headquarters overseas to do a little recon. His findings are not for the faint of heart.

“You instantly notice something is different when you look into the night sky here in Africa, but you can’t quite put your finger on it,” Cohn writes. What in God’s name could it be? Astoundingly, it’s that “you are on the opposite side of the world now…same sky, different hemisphere.” This, “opposite side of the world” business, Cohn posits, “explain[s] Namibia,” where Alexander has come to “start a new life—and maybe avoid prosecution on options fraud charges in New York.” Because when you’re trying to get off on fraud that occurred in New York, it’s generally a good idea to flee to somewhere outside the tri-state area (/the jurisdiction).

There are other things that are different about Namibia compared to the United States:

Everything here is just a little bit different from the U.S., from a gloriously desolate landscape—unlike any desert on earth, they say—to the way people do business here. No one “cuts to the chase” in Namibia, the way we insist on doing back home. A meeting begins slowly. A little greeting. Casual chit-chat. Coffee, anyone? Tea?

Fine, then. Let us cut to the chase: Scott Cohn is a racist.

Reporter’s Diary: ‘Kobi’ Alexander’s Namibia [CNBC]

Former Comverse exec and current Kobi Alexander is in the process of establishing a scholarship fund in Namibia, worth $150 million in Namibian currency. The fund’s goal is it support top students to “further their studies in science and technology,” and translates to about $21,300 U.S. For those of you who like to read into things—perhaps with due cause—Alexander’s extradition hearing begins tomorrow. (Kobi moved his family to Namibia last year after his role in an alleged stock-option scheme was brought to light.)

We’re not quite sure how to feel about this. One the one hand, he’s supporting education and people in need. And that’s nice; humanity and all that. But on the other hand, this man is an alleged criminal; we don’t want his blood money (and we speak for the children of Namibia, too). That’s right—even we have standards. (We will continue, however, to support the Save A Whale with AIDS Foundation.)

FUGITIVE ‘KOBI’ AS NAMIBIA NURTURER [NYP]

We’ve been doing a lot of writing about backdating lately but what about the poster-child for criminal backdating fugitives, Kobi Alexander? The founder of Comverse vanished after US authorities sought to arrest him on charges related to backdating, securities fraud and bribery. He later turned up in Namibia, where he was arrested by authorities and awaits an extradition hearing in April.

Over the weekend, Bloomberg reported that Alexander has started a low-income home construction business in Namibia.

His Namibian company, Kobi Alexander Enterprises, has already developed two projects in the coastal city of Walvis Bay involving the construction of 200 houses for low-income residents, the company said in an advertisement yesterday in The Namibian, a local newspaper.

“Mr. Kobi Alexander, its founder, brings with him a wealth of business acumen,” the advertisement said. “He is the founder of Comverse Technology, the world’s leading supplier of enhanced services for telecommunications companies.”

We can only imagine how that “business acumen” line strikes the US prosecutors who have done their best to paint Alexander as the worst sort of corporate criminal.

U.S. Fugitive Starts Over in Namibia [Bloomberg in NYT]

Nope. Not that one. The other guy wanted by the Feds who was found in Namibia.

Wesley Snipes, the Hollywood action star, was taken into custody this morning and will appear before a federal judge to answer charges of tax fraud and conspiracy later today.

Wearing his signature black sunglasses, a black 2-piece suit and a blue shirt, Snipes walked through the back entrance of the courthouse at 9:30 a.m., escorted by federal agents and a prosecutor.

Snipes had an initial appearance and arraignment in front of Magistrate Gary Jones at 10:30 a.m. today. Jones released Snipes on $1 million bond and allowed him to go back to Namibia to complete filming of Gallow Walker, a motion picture Snipes is starring in. The judge orderd that Snipes come back to the states for another appearance on Jan. 10.

During the court appearance, Snipes pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

Wesley Snipes arrested, released on bond [Orlando Sentinel]

In an article generally praising Checkpoint Technologies CEO Gil Shwed, Shlom Greenberg writes:

Shwed is unquestionably one of Israel’s best entrepreneurs and managers. He took a technology idea, applied it, and then became the leader in the emerging sector on Main Street. Few people can do this, and he did it in a way that can hardly be compared. He is definitely a member of the same cadre as Comverse Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: CMVT) founder Kobi Alexander, the Zisapel brothers, and Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq: RTLX; TASE: RTLX) president and CEO Barry Shaked, men who turned ideas into successful products on Main Street.

Uhm, Shlo, you mean this Kobi Alexander? One of the most famous financial fugitives in the world? That’s probably a comparison Israeli tech-chief executives can do without.

And, in related news, our little brother AboveTheLaw tells us that Wesley Snipes is apparently still a fugitive in Namibia.

Wake up call for Check Point [Globes Online]

The noose just got a little tighter around the neck of ex-Comverse CEO Kobi Alexander. The company’s former general counsel, William F. Sorin, is expected to plead guilty to charges stemming from controversially “backdated” stock options grants made by Comverse.

Under a practice now known as backdating, dozens of companies have revealed that they pegged the options to dates earlier than the date they were actually granted, making the grants potentially more valuable to recipients. Because the date fudging wasn’t disclosed to investors or tax-authorities, backdating has led to investigations and indictments by the SEC and federal prosecutors.

Sorin is the second Comverse executive to plead guilty to backdating charges. It is expected that they are cooperating with prosecutors. Federal officials currently seek the extradition of Alexander from Namibia, where the fugitive executive has been since sometime this summer. Although many companies have revealed that backdating occurred in years past, federal prosecutors seem to have focused on Comverse because high-level executives seem to have gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the practice from shareholders and board members. ANd it probably doesn’t hurt that, everyone knows, Kobi Alexander is no where near as popular as the CEO of another famous backdating Company, Steve Jobs. That guy invented the Ipod so you totally can’t indict him.

Comverse Executive to Plead Guilty [Reuters in the New York Times]

DealBreaker might need to set up a Namibian branch office if things keep up like this.

Today Reuters reported that Wesley Snipes—indicted earlier this week for tax fraud—is in Namibia. You remember that place right? It’s the semi-desert African country where Kobi Alexander was discovered, arrested and eventually bailed out of jail to await his extradition treaty.

Can this really be happening? Why Namibia (a country we only really had heard of as the place where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt went to hatch their offspring)? At first blush, Namibia seems like a good place to flee. It doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the US, it’s got some fancy resorts and sports lots of European and Israeli ex-pats to pal around with.

Unfortunately for the fugitive types, its also got a government eager to keep the US happy. After Kobi Alexander was discovered there, the country quickly passed a law permitting extradition of alleged criminals wanted in the US.

So why did Snipes stick around when it became apparent that Namibia probably wouldn’t shield him from the long arm of US law enforcement? Well, it seems that he’s not there hiding out at all. He’s filming a movie!

“It is confirmed. He is definitely here,” Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission, said by telephone. “He has been in Namibia since the end of August.”

Snipes, the star of the “Blade” movie series, is the lead actor in a new movie entitled “Gallowwalker” filming in the Namibian desert near the town of Swakopmund — the same coastal resort where Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had their first child in May.

We’re not sure this is entirely plausible. So Snipes just happened to be hanging out in a country with no extradition treaty when his indictment came down? A little convenient, no?

“It will be interesting to see whether he waives extradition proceedings or fights it. That may hint at whether he was there as a fugitive or there for other reasons,” we were told by DealBreaker’s favorite extradition law expert, Douglas McNabb of McNabb Associates.

Indicted U.S. actor Snipes in Namibia: officials [Reuters via the Ka-Ching! blog]

Prosecutors filed new charges against Kobi Alexander, former chief executive of Comverse last week, alleging that Alexander attempted to bribe an unidentified person $5 to take the blame for manipulating the timing of stock options at the company. Alexander was recently arrested in Namibia, where he had fled after being charged by US officials with criminal violations for his role in manipulating stock option grants at Comverse, including linking stock options to dates earlier than the actual date they were granted. In short, engaging in the practice that has become known as “backdating.”

In some sense, the new witness tampering and obstruction of justice charges may signal a lack of confidence on the part of government’s part with respect to the original case. Alexander is now charged with “cover up” crimes and not just the underlying offenses. This may mean that prosecutors are not sure they can prove the backdating (and other stock option manipulations) Alexander is alleged to have committed really amount to a crime. Afterall, backdating seems to have been a widespread and well-accepted corporate practice, as Apple’s recent admissions have demonstrated. But, as the world learned from Martha Stewart’s trial, just because prosecutors cannot prove the underlying conduct is not a crime doesn’t mean the cover-up won’t land you in jail.

So maybe Kobi is the next Martha Stewart.

Ex-Comverse CEO charged with bribery [Reuters on Cnnmoney.com via DealBook]

Guess who is living here? That’s right. It’s Kobi.

We kind of imagined that Kobi Alexander’s hideout would look something like Luke Skywalker’s childhood home on Tatooine—all desert plains and little sand igloos. But that’s because we don’t know much about Namibia. As it turns out, he’s staying at a place that looks like a Georgia retirement community for wealthy folks. The blog for CNBC’s On The Money has about a dozen pictures of the place.

And while we’re on the topic of the fugitive poster-child for the backdating scandal, we might as well mention that Namibia it totally hot now. Not hot like Tatooine. Hot like, uhm, whatever’s totally hot now. Apparently, Kobi’s flight to Namibia has sparked a tourism surge to the country.

Calling Kobi Alexander a “flight risk” is a bit like calling a fish a “swimming risk.” The man is currently the poster-child for international fugitives. So it is more than a bit shocking that a judge in Namibia granted Kobi bail earlier today.

The US wants Kobi extradited on a 32-count indictment stemming from backdating charges at Comverse, including allegations that Kobi tried to bribe a colleague to take the fall for him.

Maybe Kobi knew what he was doing when he fled to Namibia.
EX-Comverse Chief Alexander Granted Bail in Namibia [Bloomberg]

Kobi Alexander must not live in the same reality as the rest of us. In our reality, fugitives discovered hiding out on a distant continent don’t get released on bail when they are caught. In Kobi’s reality, the fugitives totally get set loose. Especially if they promise they’ll come back!

So which reality does controls the Namibian courts? We’ll find out on October 2nd, when Kobi has his bail hearing. Until then, Kobi is going to be staying in jail.

Comverse Ex-CEO Alexander Has Namibia Case Postponed [Bloomberg]

Abby Phenix, who blogs at Otherlands Equity, provides some guidance on why it was a mistake for Kobi Alexander to hide out in Sri Lanka.

Were I to need to flee the country and head some place where I could lay low for awhile, I might choose more wisely than a place where 1) as DealBreaker points out, the extradition treaty is not in my favor; 2) there isn’t an ongoing civil war; 3) I cannot leave except by plane; 4) as a tall person of Caucasian origin, I stand out drastically in comparison to the rather short population of South Asians; and 5) I’m further noticeable in a small fishing village, rather than where most of the tourists are in the city or upcountry. Perhaps Mr. Alexander just wanted a beach vacation before spending the rest of his life in prison.

Well, today the word is that Kobi Alexander has already left Sri Lanka. Maybe he read our last post and realized his island hideaway wasn’t as safe as he had hoped. But since our last post people have been asking, “How does extradition happen? For that we turn once again to Douglas McNabb of McNabb Associates, a law firm specializing in extradition.

When a fugitive from the US is found in another country with which the US has an extradition agreement, the US government will often attempt to have him (or her, but we’re going to use the generic “him” here because we cannot think of many fugitive chicks off the top of our heads) extradited to face justice here. This begins with the US filing a temporary arrest warrant with the country hosting the fugitive, asking that he be detained pending a full blown extradition petition.

The hearing on a full blown extradition petition works like a probable cause hearing in the US. The accused will usually raise factual arguments intended to show that there isn’t probable cause to justify continuing to detain him or sending him to the US. He may also raise legal arguments—attempting to show that he isn’t extraditable under the relevant treaty.

“These things are very fact dependent,” McNabb tells us. “You don’t get a full-blown trial but you can argue about sufficient cause and legal issues.”

But Kobi is most likely gone from Sri Lanka anyhow. Down side—all our research into Sri Lankan extradition treaties is probably useless. Upside? We can once again play “Where in the world is Kobi Alexander?”

Here at DealBreaker, we spend an unhealthy amount of time discussing ways to flee from justice and where to flee. Always at the top of our list of questions—what is the extradition policy of a potential hideout? So when news broke today that Kobi Alexander had been spotted in Sri Lanka, we turned to international extradition specialist Douglas McNabb of McNabb Associates for the lowdown. As it turns out, Sri Lanka is probably not such a good place to hide from the arm of US law enforcement.

Obviously, the best place to hide out is a country without an extradition treaty with the US. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer of these, and often they are not the most comfortable place to live. The next best plan is to find a country with a limited treaty, under which a fugitive can only be extradited for the most serious crimes.

But even if you cannot get to one of these countries, there’s still a difference between countries with recent extradition treaties and ones with older treaties, McNabb explains. The recent treaties define extraditable offenses very broadly—basically, the alleged action just needs to be a felony in both countries. These make extradition a relatively straight forward affair. The older treaties contain a laundry list of extraditable crimes—meaning the US must show that the alleged crime fits one of the crimes listed in the treaty. For laws of more recent provenance, this can make extradition more difficult.

“I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk you are going to lose with the modern clauses, but they certainly make it harder to contest extradition,” McNabb says.

Sri Lanka’s extradition treaty with the US went into effect in 2001, and contains the broad, general extraditable offense language. Which means that Alexander might have a difficult time contesting his extradition if he is detained by Sri Lankan authorities.

(Incidentally, Israel—where Alexander has strong ties and was rumored to be hiding before his discovery in Sri Lanka—has the older, more defendant-friendly treaty. So Alexander might have been better off hiding there—at least for now. Unfortunately for Alexander, earlier this month the US Senate ratified an amendment to this treaty so that once it goes into effect following execution by the President, it too will have the broader clause of contemporary treaties.)

International Extradition [McNabb Associates]

Here at DealBreaker headquarters we have enjoyed playing the game of “Where In the World is Kobi Alexander.” Tipsters have written to say he is in Israel. Others have written to say that he left Israel for Switzerland, hoping to take advantage of the laws that protected Marc Rich for so many years. Now word comes from the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv that Alexander may be hiding in the Sri Lankan fishing village of Nagomba Sri Lanka.

Apparently an Israeli private investigator was hired by a hedge fund to track down the fugitive former Comverse chief executive, and found him in Sri Lanka after Alexander made an internet phone call to relatives in Israel. A US spokesman in Tel Aviv has confirmed that the FBI is investigating whether Alexander is in Sri Lanka.

There are a few open questions in the story. First and foremost, which hedge fund hired the private investigator to track down Alexander. Second, can Alexander be extradited from Sri Lanka? Third, how did the private detective trace Alexander’s phone calls. Finally, what’s wrong at the FBI that it took a private investigator to track down one of America’s most wanted men?

FBI Checks Report on Comverse’s Ex-Chief Alexander [Bloomberg]