Former Cisco Executive Sentenced to 3 Years by Federal Court

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- A former executive at Cisco Systems, Inc., received a 3-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution to the San Jose-based technology conglomerate and to the IRS.

Prithviraj "Roger" Bhikha, a former senior director of global supplier management, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aiding and assisting in the filing of a false and fraudulent tax return.

Bhikha, 52, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco by Charles R. Breyer, senior U.S. district judge

In his plea agreement, Bhikha admitted to receiving kickbacks from a vendor, creating his own vendor for projects he was working on -- in violation of company policy -- and concealing it from his employer. He also admitted to omitting more than $9 million from foreign accounts, resulting in an underpayment of more than $2.5 million in federal income taxes.

The sentencing requires Bhikha to pay $1.15 million in restitution to Cisco, more than $2.5 million to the IRS, as well as to forfeit two pieces of San Francisco real estate.

Bhikha remains out on bail and is scheduled to surrender into custody Oct. 28.

Crime