I am not guilty, says Kobi Alexander

Alexander's attorneys have succeeded in putting off his extradition hearing. If he is extradited from Namibia to the US, he faces charges on 32 counts of violating securities laws for backdating stock options received by him and other employees in the company. Such crimes are punishable by a maximum of 25 years imprisonment.

According to the detailed statement, Richard Metcalfe, Alexander's attorney, said that "backdating options is not illegal" and the charges all relate to the disclosure and accounting treatment of the options.

"Like Steve Jones of Apple Computer and other CEOs of companies that allegedly issued backdated options but have not been charged with any misconduct, Kobi Alexander relied on lawyers and accountants for issuing, recording and reporting Comverse options," he stated.

"Like all Comverse employees, Kobi Alexander received stock options in connection with his employment. During his employment he exercised some of his options and sold Comverse stock at a profit. The vast majority of his gain was due to the appreciation of Comverse stock and was unrelated to any alleged backdating. In fact, even the United States government has conceded that less than 4.3 percent of his gains resulted from the illegal backdating," the statement read.

Alexander is not a fugitive

"Kobi Alexander is not and has never been a United States citizen. After visiting Israel in the summer of 2006, he and his family traveled from Israel to Namibia when there were no charges against him. There were no legal prohibitions on his traveling to Namibia. He is not a fugitive," Metcalfe stated.

Kobi Alexander is an Israeli entrepreneur who founded Comverse in 1982, and over 25 years turned it into the world's largest supplier of voice mail systems. The company employs 6,000 people.