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| Press Release For Immediate Release April 4, 2001 |
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney Northern District of California 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Box 36055 11th Floor, Federal
Building
San Francisco, California 94102 (415) 436-7200 FAX:(415) 436-7234 |
Two Men Indicted on Conspiracy to Commit Computer and Wire Fraud via Unauthorized Access to Cisco Stock
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced that Geoffrey Osowski, age 30, of Mountain View, and Wilson Tang, age 35 of Palo Alto, were indicted today by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, one count of computer fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030(a)(4), and three counts of wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.According to the indictment, Mr. Osowski and Mr. Tang devised a scheme to use their positions as accountants at Cisco Systems to obtain Cisco stock that they were not authorized to obtain. The indictment alleges that the defendants exceeded their authorized access to computer systems at Cisco in order to enter a computer system used by the company to manage stock option disbursals, used their unauthorized access to identify control numbers to track authorized stock option disbursals, created forged forms purporting to authorize disbursals of stock, faxed the forged requests to the company responsible for controlling and issuing shares of Cisco Systems stock, and directed that stock be placed in the defendants’ personal brokerage accounts.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, Mr. Tang, an Accounting Manager at Cisco, and Mr. Osowski, a Financial Analyst at Cisco, twice transferred large sums of Cisco stock into their personal brokerage accounts. The first time, in December 2000, they caused 97,750 shares of Cisco stock to be placed in two separate Merrill Lynch accounts, with 58,250 of the shares deposited in an account set up by Mr. Osowski and 39,500 shares deposited in an account set up by Mr. Tang. The total value of the shares was approximately $4 million. In January 2001, Mr. Tang and Mr. Osowski liquidated much of that stock, and in February, Mr. Osowski bought among other things, a 2001 Mercedes 320 for $52,000, a diamond ring for $44,000, and a Rolex watch for $20,000. In February 2001, Mr. Tang and Mr. Osowski again exercised shares of Cisco stock. This time they deposited 65,300 shares into Osowski’s Merrill Lynch account and 67,500 shares into an account that Tang had opened with Charles Schwab. The total value of these shares was approximately $2.3 million.
According to the affidavit, Cisco Systems was responsible for bringing the defendants’ actions to the attention of the FBI, and the company has cooperated fully with the investigation.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371, 1030(a)(4) and 1343, is five years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court. An indictment simply contains allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Osowski and Mr. Tang must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
Mr. Osowski and Mr. Tang both made initial appearances in federal court in San Jose on March 28, and are both free on personal recognizance bonds of $100,000. Their next scheduled appearances in federal court are on April 12, 2001, for arraignment on the charges in the indictment.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Joseph E. Sullivan of the United States Attorney’s Office’s Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Unit is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lauri Gomez.
A copy of this press release and key court documents filed in the case may also be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usaondca.com.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs at (415)436-7181.
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