Arrest warrant issued for former Symbol CEO

news
Jun 9, 20041 min

Exec is believed to have fled the country

The U.S. Attorney’s office has issued an arrest warrant for the former chief executive officer of WLAN vendor Symbol Technologies, who is believed to have fled the country following fraud charges leveled last week against him and seven other former Symbol executives.

The Interpol arrest warrant was issued Wednesday against Tomo Razmilovic after his lawyer contacted the office of U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf and indicated that Razmilovic would not appear for a scheduled Thursday arraignment, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney.

The eight executives are accused of engaging in a variety of fraudulent practices that inflated the Holtsville, New York, company’s earnings by over $200 million between 1999 and 2002.

“We consider him a fugitive,” said Nardoza. “We do not expect he’s going to show, based on what his lawyer told us.”

Razmilovic is believed to have fled to his native Croatia, according to an Associated Press report.

Charges have not been filed against Symbol itself or its current management team, but the company has signed agreements with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pay $139 million in compensation to shareholders who lost money because of the fraud.