2 Ex-Workers Admit to Cisco Stock Scam

Two former Cisco Systems Inc. accountants pleaded guilty to computer-fraud charges, admitting that they illegally transferred $7.8 million in company stock to their personal brokerage accounts, prosecutors said.

Geoffrey Osowski, 30, and Wilson Tang, 35, face up to five years in prison for misusing Cisco’s computer system to obtain more than 230,000 shares of stock in the largest maker of computer-networking equipment.

The two men illegally accessed Cisco’s programs for managing stock-option disbursements and granted themselves 230,550 shares over six months starting in October 2000, federal prosecutors said.

Osowski, of Mountain View, Calif., and Tang, of Palo Alto, each pleaded guilty to one count of computer fraud in federal court in San Jose. They will be sentenced Nov. 26.

Cisco’s shares, which have fallen 73% over the last year, rose 29 cents to $16.90.