Kaiser sentenced in theft

The grandson of the founder of Kaiser Permanente was sentenced this week in federal court for his role in the theft of $2 million from Roseville-based SureWest Comm-unications.Henry Mead Kaiser, 62, was sentenced Tuesday to a year and one day in prison by a Sacramento federal judge, and was ordered to begin serving the sentence on Oct. 24.Kaiser - who is the grandson of Henry J. Kaiser, founder of Kaiser Industries and Kaiser Permanente - initially pleaded guilty in April 2004 to interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained property and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.The extra day on the sentence makes Kaiser eligible for up to 54 days off his sentence for good behavior. If the sentence were any less, he would not be afforded such a reduction. Kaiser had faced a possible sentence of up to three years and five months, but records indicate U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. granted requests from Kaiser and his attorney for leniency.Kaiser was also fined $25,000, and the courts ordered him and a father and son involved in the scam to pay SureWest restitution of $2 million.According to court records, Kaiser, Larry Wells and a third partner were co-owners of the venture capital company Quivara Ventures, which was started in late 2001. Court records state European investors told the partners if they could show the company had $25 million deposited with a major bank, the promoters could then provide $200 million to underwrite Quivira's venture capital fund and Quivira would keep the initial $25 million.At the time, Wells' son Jeffrey was a senior treasury analyst with SureWest, and had access to company money. An indictment issued by the grand jury stated Jeffrey Wells began transferring up $25 million from SureWest to Quivira accounts to show investors Quivira had sufficient deposits.The Wellses pleaded guilty to the theft in June: 63-year-old Larry Wells pleaded to engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property and wire fraud, and Jeffrey Wells, 34, pleaded to wire fraud.The Wellses are scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 10."We are satisfied with the guilty plea by the defendant and the sentence handed down in this case. This issue has been behind us for several years and the company has long ago taken the necessary internal corrective action," SureWest President and CEO Steve Oldham said in a public statement.