Electronics chief sentenced to six months in prison for fraud

LOS ANGELES - A former chief of an electronics company was sentenced Monday to six months in prison for falsifying financial records to cheat investors and lenders out of millions of dollars.

Richard I. Berger, 61, of Rolling Hills Estates, and the ex-chairman of the board of Cerritos-based Craig Consumer Electronics, also was ordered to pay a $1.2 million fine and $3.2 million in restitution, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

Berger was found guilty by a jury in September of 12 fraud-related counts, including making false statements in Securities and Exchange Commission filings for the company's initial public offering in 1996.

He and Craig's chief financial officer, Donna Richardson, reported bogus earnings figures so the company could continue to tap a line of credit from banks, authorities said. The cost banks $8 million by falsifying accounts, including duping inventory records to show defective goods as new or refurbished.

Richardson, 45, of Dracut, Mass., pleaded guilty to three counts of bank fraud. Her sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 4.

The SEC sued Berger and Richardson in 2000 and the U.S. attorney's office added criminal indictments.

Berger agreed to settle the SEC lawsuit by paying $25,000 and was barred from serving as a corporate officer for five years.