Comverse names new CEO amid poor results

Comverse Technology Inc., the owner of a majority stake in Melville-based software maker Verint Corp., has replaced its chief executive. The company said Charles Burdick, a trustee, will take over from Andre Dahan, who was also president and a board member.

It's unclear how the change in leadership, which analysts said was due to poor financial results at Comverse, will affect Verint, a voice and data monitoring software company with $700 million in annual revenue and a workforce of 2,700 in the United States, Israel and worldwide.

Comverse, a maker of cell phone software formerly based in Woodbury, holds a 55 percent stake in Verint. In January it sold a portion of its then 61 percent stake in a stock offering.

Dahan had succeeded Comverse co-founder and CEO Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, who faces federal criminal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice involving the backdating of stock options. He fled to the southwestern African nation of Namibia in 2006. The company moved its offices to Manhattan afterward and is said to be on the verge of reconciling its financial records and restating earnings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In November, the SEC announced that Alexander had agreed to pay $53.6 million to end civil actions against him by U.S. prosecutors and regulators. As part of the settlement, Alexander will be permanently barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company.