NU Online News Service

Sentencing dates have been set for a former top executive of the ACORD Corp. insurance standards-setting organization and an accomplice who pled guilty to bilking the firm out of more than $1 million.

The pair admitted to a fraud involving hardware and software purchasing for ACORD, according to the Rockland County, New York District Attorney's Office.

Aziz Hussein, formerly ACORD's chief technology officer, pled guilty March 5 to grand larceny in the second degree, which carries a penalty of five to 15 years, District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe's office said

Sentencing for Hussein is scheduled for June 18, before Rockland County Court Judge Charles Apotheker.

The other confessed participant in the scheme, Ian Parham, an outside partner from Morrisville, N. C., pled guilty on March 24 to grand larceny in the second degree. Sentencing for Parham is scheduled for July 9, also before Judge Apotheker, the district attorney's office said.

Hussein admitted that between 2003 and 2008, while he was an employee of Pearl River, N.Y.-based ACORD, he stole more than $50,000 from the organization, according to the district attorney's office.

Zugibe said that between 2003 and 2008, while Mr. Hussein was employed by ACORD, Parham stole more than $1 million from ACORD, "acting alone and in concert with Mr. Hussein."

The defendants, using shell companies, overcharged ACORD for computer hardware and software and billed the company for hardware and software that was never delivered, the district attorney's office said.

Tanya Krochta, vice president and chief administrative officer for ACORD, said she could not comment on the case, but she confirmed that Mr. Husein was employed as chief technical officer for ACORD from 2003 to 2008.

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