"A set of falsified meeting minutes was drawn up to make it appear as though the options were granted at an earlier date -- and a more favorable price -- than when the deal was actually finalized," the report says about the 2001 grant. "The minutes were fabricated by a low-ranking in-house Apple lawyer, though prosecutors also have been looking over her head -- at ex-GC Nancy Heinen and Apple's former CFO, Fred Anderson." Heinen, who formally hired counsel last year, discussed the grant with Sonsini between its approval by the company's board of directors and her department's completion of the paperwork, the report says. However, Heinen may deflect responsibility by pointing to the Board and/or Sonsini, according to experts quoted in the story. Sonsini was reportedly very close to Jobs and was not only used by Apple to consult on company business, but also by the companies run by at least three of Apple's five independent board members, including the Gap, Intuit, and Genentech. Sonsini also was a central figure in the HP boardroom scandal last fall--in which he was consulted when director Thomas Perkins quit to protest tactics used to investigate board leaks to the media.