Tuesday, July 1,2008 @ 9:00pm
Apple, execs sued for fraud from backdating scandal
A lawsuit was brought against several key Apple executives on Friday, accusing CEO Steve Jobs and several others of fraud, in relation to the stock option backdating scandal in recent years. According to a filing with the US District Court in San Jose, Jobs stands with former financial officer Fred Anderson, as well as Nancy Heinen, William Campbel, Millard Drexler, Arthur Levinson, and Jerome York, in addition to the company itself.
Plaintiffs Martin Vogel and Kenneth Mahoney bring the class-action suit against Apple and its executives, due to a stock tumble that occurred after it acknowledged an internal investigation regarding the backdated grants. After two weeks, stock dropped 14-percent – over $7 billion in share value – and the suit is aimed at recuperating those losses.
Apple has lost millions on backdated stocks, which were allegedly not accounted for in the company's financial records, or reported to the proper authorities at the Securities and Exchange Commission.