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MANHATTAN----Richard P. Adelson of Montebello, former president and chief operating officer of Impath, a company which provided cancer diagnostic services, is scheduled to be sentenced May 30 after being found guilty in U.S. District Court of conspiracy, securities fraud and three counts of false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Adelson, 40, was acquitted of seven other counts.
He faces a maximum term of 85 years in prison although it is doubtful that he would receive that. His attorney, Mark Arisohn, has said he will appeal.
A California woman has been sentenced to three months in prison for her role in a fraud scheme involving Impath securities.
Anuradha D. Saad, 49, of Beverly Hills, former chairwoman of the board and chief executive officer of Impath Inc. was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
Impath was a New York-based health care company that provided cancer information services and filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2003, following the disclosure of possible accounting irregularities, according to publicly filed documents in the case.
On Sept. 21, Saad pleaded guilty to two counts of soliciting proxies containing false proxy statementsqa and one count of knowingly failing to implement a system of internal accounting controls.
According to the superseding Information and her statements in connection with her guilty plea, Saad solicited proxies on behalf of Impath which were false and misleading because they did not disclose compensation to Saad in the form of personal expenses charged to an Impath corporate credit card and paid for by Impath, totaling approximately $120,000, including charges for furniture, electronic equipment, beauty products, artwork, and personal travel.
Additionally, according to the superseding Information and Saad’s statements in connection with her guilty plea, Saad knowingly failed to implement a system of internal accounting controls at Impath sufficient to provide reasonable assurances.
Prosecutors said that Adelson conspired with others to overstate revenues by more than $60 million in several quarters after the company’s share value rose from $15 in 1996 to $75 in 2000.
When its revenues began falling, Adelson and other executives conspired to exaggerate revenues and fabricate numbers to impress Wall Street. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Arisohn says there is significant reasonable doubt in the case and said prosecutors had built their case against Adelson based on the testimony of former Impath controller Peter Torres who he called a “despicable human being”.
Torres has already pleaded guilty for his role in conspiracy and awaits sentencing. 2-21-06
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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