Former EDS Employee Sentenced To Prison In Fraud Scheme

A former Electronic Data Systems employee and a co-conspirator were sentenced to prison Tuesday after a jury found them guilty of defrauding the outsourcing company through a sophisticated money laundering scheme.

Joseph Amato, 65, of Wyckoff, N.J., was sentenced to one year plus one day in prison. He is the former finance leader of EDS's Global Securities Industry Group. John Fasciana, 61, of Bedford Hills, N.Y., received a sentence of 48 months. Fasciana is an attorney and Certified Public Accountant. Also charged in the scheme was Michael T. Reddy, of Saddle Brook, N.J. Reddy, the former CEO of the GSI Group, died prior to trial.

A federal jury found that Amato and Fasciana helped Reddy steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from EDS by stealing checks sent to the company and laundering the funds through Fasciana's attorney trust account. Jurors also found that the trio conspired to falsify EDS's accounts to make it appear as though Reddy's group met various sales and profit targets, resulting in millions of dollars in illicit bonuses for Reddy.

Prior to the case, Reddy -- who died in February of 2005 -- appeared to be a pillar of the Wall Street technology community. He was a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management program and appeared on Irish America magazine's list of top 100 Irish-American businessmen. He also authored a widely quoted book on securities IT operations.

EDS officials said the company was pleased with the verdicts. "Justice has been done," said a company spokesman.