Using Qualcomm's patents to earn Qualcomm 1 billion, this former executive's cool tricks are revealed

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He stole chip patents from Qualcomm and sold them back to make 10 small goals.

Former Qualcomm executive Karim Arabi ’s saucy move came to light.

Later, he used the money to establish a new AI chip company, which was successful.

Now that this major case has been exposed, Arabi and four of his accomplices have been accused of fraud and money laundering. An indictment has also been made public, making it a hot topic in the chip circle.

From the details disclosed in this indictment, we can see that there are more bizarre aspects of this case...

How to hide the truth from others

Arabi was born in Iran's top Amir Kabir University of Technology, and later received a doctorate from the Montreal Institute of Technology in Canada. His research direction focuses on low-power SoC architecture.

After graduating in 1996, he worked in the mobile chip industry for more than ten years. In 2007, he joined Qualcomm as VP of the Engineering Department and later became the director of the ASIC R&D department.

By 2015, Arabi’s professional skills, which had been in management for many years, were not lost, and he completed a technological invention.

According to the contract he signed with Qualcomm, the fruits of his labor during his tenure should belong to the company .

But Arabi kept it a secret and packaged it as the idea of ​​a Canadian graduate student, Sheida Alan .

They applied for a patent in Alan's name and formed a company, Abreezio .

Arabi teamed up with two other Qualcomm executives at the time to sell the company on a venture capital-backed Silicon Valley startup with core technology.

Arabi also used his position to reveal Qualcomm's internal information to the new company, helping it to refine its marketing strategy.

In short, the technology is real technology. According to the introduction of Abreezio at that time, it is about PPA (performance, power consumption, area) optimization Low-power chip IP and EDA tools , and it is advanced process node.

Qualcomm really values ​​​​it and acquired the company for US$150 million in 2015.

However, the graduate student Alan used a false identity when applying for a patent. She did not major in semiconductor design at all, but was related to inkjet printing.

Her true identity is Sheida Arabi, Karim Arabi's sister.

The indictment alleges that Karim Arabi was deeply involved in the founding of the company, including naming it, selecting its CEO, and attending meetings, all of which were concealed from Qualcomm at the time.

A few months after the acquisition was completed, Arabi and several associates resigned from Qualcomm.

Later, they used foreign real estate transactions and interest-free loans to launder the money and started a new life.

Until last week, four people involved in this case were charged with fraud and money laundering. Among them, Arabi and two other accomplices, Taneja and Shokouhi, have been arrested, and sister Sheida is awaiting extradition from Canada.

Several defendants face up to 20 years in prison, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains , and additional fines for fraud and money laundering.

Netizens who watched this story said that it would be good to be made into a movie.

Reference links:
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/11/arabi_qualcomm_indictment/
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/08/11/unsealed_indictment.pdf