Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva

UPDATE, March 18, 2011: Public gets first look at Sachdeva cache
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UPDATE, December 16, 2010: Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's Holiday Travel Plans
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Thinking of embezzling $34 MILLION, but fear the consequences?

The consequences in terms of prison time aren't all that bad, relatively speaking.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Former Koss Corp. executive Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for embezzling $34 million from the Milwaukee stereo headphone manufacturer.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman imposed the sentence after Sachdeva made a tearful statement - her first public comments since her arrest 11 months ago.

"I stand before you today truly remorseful. You have been my family, my friends and my co-workers for many years. I know you have been deeply hurt by my dishonesty in ways I never intended," Sachdeva said.

"I have lost everything that was dear to me - my marriage, my children, my career, my friends, my home, and finally, my freedom. I sincerely hope that everybody I hurt - Mr. Michael Koss, the employees, stockholders - can find it in their hearts to forgive me," Sachdeva said, sobbing as she spoke.

She was not taken directly to prison; she will remain free while she gives testimony in lawsuits related to the embezzlement.

Sachdeva's husband, Ramesh Sachdeva, a physician at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, filed for divorce Friday in Ozaukee County. On Wednesday, he sat directly behind his wife, in the first row of the courtroom, listening intently, at times leaning forward as she spoke and as her attorneys argued on her behalf. Ramesh Sachdeva declined a request for comment.

...Sachdeva spent nearly all of the $34 million on wild shopping sprees in which she would buy the same luxury clothing items in multiple sizes and colors, then never wear them. She also bought shoes, purses, art, vacations, a Mercedes-Benz and improvements to her Mequon home, and she paid for servants and limo service with Koss money.

Her attorneys said the binge spending stemmed from a shopping disorder. She has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder that prompted the sprees, and also is an alcoholic, according to documents discussed in court Wednesday.

Sachdeva is sick, she's not a bad person.

She's a victim of her illnesses.

Do bipolar disorder and alcoholism provide one with an excuse to steal $34 million and permit leniency in sentencing?

Apparently, it doesn't hurt.

I don't understand how Sachdeva's husband, a doctor and lawyer, could have been so blind to his "sick" wife's activities.

$34 MILLION!

I think a spouse would notice an income influx of $340,000, even $34,000.

Why didn't Ramesh Sachdeva grow suspicious of his wife's wild shopping sprees, purchasing "luxury clothing items in multiple sizes and colors," only to never wear them?

Didn't he wonder about the "luxury shoes, purses, art, vacations, a Mercedes-Benz and improvements to [their] Mequon home"?

The servants and limo service certainly should have tipped him off that something was not right.

There is no way someone can steal $34 million and spend with abandon without those close to the individual noticing.

If Sachdeva was hoarding cats, for example, I doubt her husband, family, and friends would have looked the other way.

Sachdeva was sobbing in court yesterday, noting that she's lost everything: "my marriage, my children, my career, my friends, my home, and finally, my freedom."

Yeah, that happens when you embezzle $34 MILLION! That's kind of a big deal.

...After court adjourned, Sachdeva's attorney, Michael F. Hart, said he felt the sentence was fair and that his client agreed.

Asked why Sachdeva committed the crimes, Hart responded: "She's sick. There's no other way to say it."

Being sick doesn't free one of responsibility for one's actions.

I think her 11-year sentence is light. I don't think it fits the magnitude of her crime.