California man charged in $98M fraud, bribery scheme

LOS ANGELES – The former head of a Southern California software company is denying that he bribed executives at an Australian bank in order to win a $98 million incentive bonus.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Eric Pulier on Wednesday, along with Jon Waldron of Sydney, a former IT manager at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The charges include securities fraud and conspiracy.

A Pulier representative said in a statement that he has been wrongly accused and did not bribe anyone. The statement says the evidence will vindicate him.

Authorities say Pulier paid about $2.5 million in bribes to Waldron and another executive to obtain bank contracts for his company ServiceMesh Inc.

The deals pushed up company revenues and triggered a $98 million incentive payout to shareholders from Computer Sciences Corporation, which purchased the company.

Authorities say Pulier’s cut was about $30 million.