Man harassed US federal employees with 3,000 calls

LOS ANGELES — A California man who clearly had time on his hands was found guilty on Thursday (Jan 19) of harassing federal employees with more than 3,000 expletive-filled and threatening phone calls.

Kulwant (Ken) Singh Sandhu, 56, placed the calls to employees at the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, leaving at least 350 lengthy voice mails, officials said.

Apart from the 3,000 calls made since at least 2012, he also placed hundreds of calls to another person outside government, officials said.

“Many of Sandhu’s phone calls to employees and his voicemails were profanity-filled tirades that repeatedly called for SEC personnel and others to be, among other things, rounded up, publicly hanged, water-boarded, burned alive, shot and blown up with rockets and tanks,” federal prosecutor Phillip Talbert said in a statement.

Sandhu was found guilty following a three-day trial.

He faces up to two years in prison at his sentencing in April on each of two counts of making harassing phone calls. He also faces a fine of US$250,000 (S$356,300).

It was unclear what prompted the calls. AFP