--- title: "PE-Backed Mobileum's Execs Charged With Securities Fraud" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/276269351.md" description: "Two executives from Mobileum, Andrew Warner and Kishore Vangipuram, have been charged with conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney's office alleges they inflated the company's value to deceive an investment firm during a private equity transaction, resulting in a $915 million sale. They reportedly falsified financial metrics and created fake invoices to mislead the buyer. Following the sale, Mobileum declared bankruptcy after the fraud was uncovered. The charges carry potential prison sentences of up to 25 years." datetime: "2026-02-18T20:40:51.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/276269351.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/276269351.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/276269351.md) --- # PE-Backed Mobileum's Execs Charged With Securities Fraud The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has unsealed an indictment charging several executives of the private‑equity‑backed telecom firm **Mobileum Inc.** with conspiring to commit securities and wire fraud. The charges stem from an alleged scheme conducted by former Mobileum Chief Financial Officer **Andrew Warner** and **Kishore Vangipuram**, the former chief of delivery (CDO), a press release from the Southern District of New York stated. In 2021, Warner and Vangipuram inflated the value of the company to "convey robust growth and operational efficiency" in order to allegedly deceive an investment firm into overpaying for the business in a private equity transaction. The two executives falsified Mobileum’s financial metrics and when the sale from Audax Group to H.I.G. Capital took place, the firm was valued at $915 million, Bloomberg reported. Warner received approximately $5.2 million and Vangipuram received approximately $5.5 million in stock, cash and other proceeds from Mobileum's sale, the press release stated. ### ‘Doctored Billable Hours And Invoices’ "Andrew Warner and Kishore Vangipuram allegedly exaggerated their company's fiscal success through doctored billable hours and invoices to defraud an unsuspecting investment firm of nearly one billion dollars," FBI assistant director in charge James C. Barnacle, Jr said in the press release. "These two executives allegedly exploited their respective CFO and CDO positions to betray the trust of an interested buyer out of selfish greed. The FBI continues to protect the integrity of corporate transactions from fraudsters seeking to profit from deceitful practices." After the sale went through, the two executives continued to allegedly commit fraud in order to prevent the investment firm from discovering the truth about Mobileum's financials. They asked employees to "reduce their level of effort" for projects so that they would appear closer to completion than was accurate. This resulted in millions of dollars of imaginary revenue. Before the sale of the company, when a potential buyer asked about the company’s high level of unbilled revenue and whether that was a red flag indicating poor cash conversion, the two executives would tell their employees to create fake invoices for billing milestones that the company had never reached.  Warner also allegedly instructed that those invoices be processed internally and would be withheld from the customers themselves. Following the sale, Vangipuram told a colleague not to send any emails regarding invoicing, because it would "land them in a lot of trouble." In 2024, Mobileum declared bankruptcy after H.I.G. Capital discovered the fraud scheme. Warner and Vangipuram are being charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, which has a maximum sentence of five and 20 years in prison, respectively.  U.S. District Judge Magistrate Judge Kandis Westmore has been assigned the case and will determine sentencing. _Photo: Shutterstock_ ## Related News & Research - [10:57 ETUNITS Moving and Portable Storage Protects What Matters Most This Hurricane Season](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288741687.md) - [Cadre Holdings Subsidiary Safariland Selected as Ballistic Provider for FBI Armor Contract | CDRE Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288473869.md) - [The Anthropic IPO Is Coming: History Says the Stock Will Do This After It Starts Trading](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288707346.md) - [Serve Robotics (SERV) Valuation Check As It Expands Into Urban Laundry Delivery With NoScrubs](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288695941.md) - [Google and FBI warn of ransomware group that sends fake IT workers to hack victims in person](https://longbridge.com/en/news/288887803.md)