By Khalida Sarwari
An employee with San Jose-based California Water Service Co. was arrested in the United Kingdom earlier this month after he allegedly used company computers to wire more than $9 million to overseas accounts in Qatar, San Jose police said Wednesday.
Abdirahman Abdi, 33, a resident of Santa Clara, fled the country and was tracked through Canada before his subsequent arrest in England on July 2, where he is pending extradition back to the U.S., police said.
An investigation led by San Jose police revealed that on April 27, Abdi had allegedly gained unauthorized use of company computers to wire the funds. The company, along with Bank of America, located and froze the funds before notifying police.
The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Abdi, whom police said was in the U.S. illegally working on a fraudulent H1B visa, a work permit for foreign workers. Abdi is a citizen of Somalia holding a British passport.
The California Water Service Co., located at 1720 North First St., delivers drinking water throughout the state, including portions of the South Bay.
Anyone with information on this embezzlement case is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Mike Niehoff of the Police Department’s fraud unit at (408) 277-4521. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP.