Ex-Executive Gets 22 Years for Fraud That Shuttered Calif. Nonprofit
May 1, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
A former technology executive who was found guilty of running a $30-million fraud that shut down a California group that supported civil-rights, anti-war, and environmental efforts was sentenced Monday to 22 years prison, write the San Francisco Chronicle and the Associated Press.
Prosecutors said Samuel “Mouli” Cohen, 53, of Belvedere, Calif., drummed up investment for Ecast, a company that produced digital jukeboxes for bars, by claiming Microsoft was about to purchase it. Mr. Cohen’s attorneys said they planned to appeal his conviction on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.
The scam was blamed for the collapse of the Vanguard Public Foundation, a liberal San Francisco charity with ties to actors Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte.
Vanguard invested millions of dollars in Ecast after Mr. Cohen approached Mr. Glover about the firm at a 2002 dinner. The actor and the Vanguard president have filed a civil suit against Mr. Cohen, who was also ordered Monday to pay $31.4-million to victims of the fraud.
