McAfee suspects fingered for $3.8m fraud
Billing for 'services not rendered'
Police have arrested a former marketing exec at anti-virus firm McAfee on suspicion of scammming millions of dollars out of the security software firm.
Susan Despinic, 35, of Los Gatos, California and her husband Aurawm Almaneih, 37, were arrested on Wednesday over allegations they conspired together to misappropriate McAfee funds totalling $3.8m into the coffers of firms associated with the duo, AP reports. One of these outfits was a shell firm set up purely to enrich the pair, prosecutors allege. The firms associated with the suspects were said to provides services such as translation, competitive analysis and marketing promotions.
Prosecutors reckon some of the allegedly pilfered money was spent in buying the couple's marital home, The Mercury News adds.
Despinic worked as a product marketing manager at McAfee. The alleged fraud took place between May 2005 and August 2007.
The duo, who face grand theft charges, and were each released on bail, are next due back in court on 14 November. If convicted on all charges the duo face up to seven years behind bars.
Another former McAfee employee, Ayshah Maiorano, faces similar fraud charges in a separate case following her arrest last year. ®
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COMMENTS
Core revenue generation model revealed in McAfee <s>billing</s> fraud shocker
Are these the folk who realised that McAfee could make money by failing to cancel the repeat collection of subscriptions to their failware? Just do that a few times per user who ever handed credit card details to them, and divert proceeds to a different account, while the main accounts line monkeys trot out excuses why it's not their fault...
Core incompetency?
So McAfee hired these folks to realign the company's brand identity to focus its core competency in enabling best-of-breed convergence, and then realized that this amounts to nothing? Sounds like they want to get paid for their mistake!
Released on bail?!
Shit, I'd be on the first pickup truck to Tijuana. No passports or ID shown on the way out don't cha know. Get a realtor round, sell the house for half it's value, sell everything else on eBay, buyer collects from back garden, get a neighbour or friend to help with that, and go live in Venezuela - no extradition treaties there my friend and I hear the weather's lovely. Seeeee ya.
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