Ali Akbar Shokouhi, the central investor of tech firm Abreezio, entered a guilty plea for money laundering today. The case involves a complex fraud perpetrated against tech giant Qualcomm, which purchased Abreezio for around $180 million in 2015. Shokouhi, in collusion with co-defendant Karim Arabi, carved out a secretive path that hid their involvement in the company, falsely painting it as an "angel-funded" independent company. The revelation came from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In federal court, Shokouhi confessed to the manipulations that he and Arabi utilized to conceal during Abreezio's formation to its eventual acquisition by Qualcomm. Arabi, who was then an employee at Qualcomm, aided Shokouhi in the conception of the "Abreezio" name and the execution of the high-profile fraud.
The backdrop of Shokouhi's maneuvering shows the roots of the plot. Having previously been dismissed from Qualcomm due to a conflict-of-interest violation, he decided to disguise his association in Abreezio. Shokouhi conspired with Arabi, opting to use alternate names in text conversations they shared. This detail bears a resemblance to co-defendant Sanjiv Taneja's agreed plea in which he confessed to his role in the scheme, stating a forthcoming restitution deal.
Consequent to this case, Shokouhi has agreed to surrender over $16 million he personally acquired from the deal, offering to make amends financially for his deceit.
Faced with the severity of his disobedience, Shokouhi indicated that he never personally met the supposed architect of Abreezio’s core technologies, allegedly a family member of Arabi, who never took part in any of the firm's technical or strategy-related decisions to his aware, as the DOJ reports.
