Koss sues former VP of finance, auditor over embezzlement
Milwaukee-based Koss Corp. has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois against its former vice president of finance, Sujata Sachdeva. Koss says that Sachdeva embezzled about $30 million from the company.
Koss says Sachdeva stole money from the company to fund a lavish lifestyle complete with furs, jewelry and high-end clothing. The company first discovered the embezzlement in December.
Koss is also suing Chicago-based Grant Thornton LLP, its former auditor, for professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty. Koss says that Grant Thornton failed to properly perform audits of the company’s financial statements and failed to properly assess the company’s internal controls, thus allowing the embezzlement to continue.
“There is no question that Sachdeva stole from Koss and there is no question that without Grant Thornton’s failures, the theft would have never occurred,” said lead attorney Michael Avenatti of Eagan O’Malley & Avenatti, LLP, the law firm representing Koss. “Grant Thornton was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to properly audit the company’s financial statements and they failed miserably. This failure included repeatedly assuring the company and its board that the company’s internal controls were effective. A company should be able to rely on its auditors.”
Sachdeva also faces federal criminal charges relating to the alleged embezzlement.
