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1. •  
     CommentAuthorMacIas
   • CommentTimeDec 26th 2008

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   Originally Posted on:  
   http://triad.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2008/12/22/daily46.html  
    
    
   Officials of Fry's Electronics Inc. of San Jose said in a statement that the alleged illegal activities of a former executive did not affect what the company charged its customers nor company finances.  
    
   Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, the retailer's former vice president of merchandising and operations and a Palo Alto resident, was arrested Dec. 19 and has been charged by federal prosecutors with defrauding Fry's out of $65 million.  
    
   The company's statement, released late Tuesday, said its executives "uncovered a 'kick-back' scheme operating outside of our organization and linked it to Omar Siddiqui. Fry's is cooperating with the U.S. Treasury Department in this investigation to expose any others involved in this illegal activity. Fry's demanded prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."  
    
   The Fry's statement went on to say that even though "the fraud did not affect Fry's low pricing, nor its financial position, we want to let our valued customers and suppliers know that our goal continues to be to bring the highest quality products to market at guaranteed low prices ..."  
    
   Siddiqui is scheduled to be charged Jan. 15 in U.S. District Court in San Jose with money laundering and wire fraud. A complaint filed by the Internal Revenue Service against Siddiqui, alleges he made secret backroom deals with vendors to provide him with kickbacks. In return, federal prosecutors say, Siddiqui reportedly saw to it that vendors' products were heavily promoted by the retailer.  
    
   He appeared Monday at a hearing in U.S. District Court and was released on $300,000 bail. According to prosecutors, Siddiqui allegedly charged exorbitant commissions to vendors, placing the money in a company he had set up himself. Prosecutors contend the alleged scheme ended up causing Fry's to be overcharged for merchandise.  
    
   According to media reports and court documents, Siddiqui, who earned a salary of $225,000 from Fry's, enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle and was a frequent visitor to the gambling meccas of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, dropping millions of dollars on high-stakes baccarat games. He was reportedly heavily in debt to several gambling casinos.  
    
   Fry's, founded 23 years ago in Sunnyvale, operates 35 consumer electronics stores in 10 states, employs 14,000 and recorded fiscal 2007 sales of more than $2.3 billion. In Northern California, it operates stores in San Jose, Campbell, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Fremont, Concord and Sacramento.aka Luis - FrysForum Administration Group

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3. •  
     CommentAuthorAyaHu
   • CommentTimeDec 26th 2008

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   His last name was Siddiqui.Superhero!
4. •  
     CommentAuthormeinside100
   • CommentTimeDec 27th 2008

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   AyaHu: His last name was Siddiqui.

    
    
   Its all the same really.
5. •  
     CommentAuthormerzbow
   • CommentTimeDec 27th 2008 edited

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   MacIas:  
    
   The Fry's statement went on to say that even though "the fraud did not affect Fry's low pricing, nor its financial position, we want to let our valued customers and suppliers know that our goal continues to be to bring the highest quality products to market at guaranteed low prices ..."

    
    
   what about ex frys sales people who lost their job over the past couple of months because they werent able to meet rediculous sales goals, AND the lost GP they could have made because of his 'buy low/sell back to frys high' scam? this whole thing has been kept under wraps since october and didnt go national until a few days ago.  
    
   when i lost my job after being at fry's for SIX YEARS for something as trivial as 'poor performance due to sales goals' i was like ok whatever. now that this has been brought to light, im thinking about giving Fry's army of lawyers something new to chew on.
6. •  
     CommentAuthorGuest 29990
   • CommentTimeDec 27th 2008

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   He's a terrorist and uses Fry's money to fund Al-Qaeda.
7. •  
     CommentAuthorCharlie
   • CommentTimeDec 15th 2016

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   LOL they ordered him to pay $65,584,864? Good luck getting that amount. But it's funny how Fry's lost that money. I'm sure Randy Fry couldn't sleep because of it. Bastards deserved it.
8. •  
     CommentAuthorCharlie
   • CommentTimeDec 15th 2016

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   Actually, no, Fry's didn't lose that money. So why is he going to jail? Siddiqui didn't steal anything.
9. •  
     CommentAuthorGuest 39859
   • CommentTimeDec 17th 2016

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   Frys did lose the money. Siddiqui ran his own business as a go between Frys and companies that didn't want to work with Frys. He would buy bulk and get a lower cost, but then when he sold it to Frys he would not pass along the lower cost. So he used Frys money to buy items then keep the difference.
10. •  
      CommentAuthorGuest 39859
    • CommentTimeDec 17th 2016

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    That's how he got away with it for so long. Frys accountants didn't look at his company's books. He was caught when he left financial papers on his desk and someone saw them.
11. •  
      CommentAuthorCharlie
    • CommentTimeDec 18th 2016

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    Guest: Frys did lose the money. Siddiqui ran his own business as a go between Frys and companies that didn't want to work with Frys. He would buy bulk and get a lower cost, but then when he sold it to Frys he would not pass along the lower cost. So he used Frys money to buy items then keep the difference.

     
     
    OK makes sense.  
     
     
    ...Wait, there are companies that don't want to work with Fry's? D8
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