Apple's own options probe finds no misconduct

Though the probe exonerated current management, it did raise “serious concerns” with the stock-options accounting actions of two former officers.

Apple did not identify those officers. Speculation and media reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, however, have pointed to former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson and former general counsel Nancy Heinen.

Anderson retired as Apple’s CFO in 2004 yet remained a board member until he resigned in October after the internal inquiry. Heinen left Apple for unknown reasons in May, before Apple initiated its stock options probe.

Anderson’s attorney, Jerome Roth, said in an e-mailed statement that the former CFO was “disappointed” to learn Apple had mishandled stock options but noted that he “did not play any day to day role” in the granting or accounting of company stock options. Anderson also was not a member of the board when Jobs received the questionable grant in 2001 and “had no knowledge of any impropriety” surrounding that grant, Roth said.

Cris Arguedas, an attorney for Heinen, was not immediately available for comment.

Apple said it has provided the results of its internal review and independent investigation to the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and has responded to their “informal requests” for documents and additional information.

The details of the findings Friday appeared to ease investor concerns that the options scandal would threaten Jobs. Shares of Apple went on a roller-coaster ride earlier in the week following media reports that federal investigators were looking into the falsification of documents and that Jobs had received an award of stock options in 2001 without proper board approval.

The nationwide stock options scandal has already led to criminal indictments and resignations of several executives.

But none is considered as well known or tied to their company’s success and identity as Jobs. Wall Street analysts have largely shrugged off the impact of the scandal on Apple as long as the company’s iconic co-founder and CEO was to remain unscathed.

Legal experts say Jobs may not be off the hook and could still face some kind of penalty.

“Ignorance is usually not a good defense,” Jeffrey Siegel, a veteran securities lawyer and partner at Blank Rome LLC in New York, said in a previous interview. “Executives are expected to understand the laws applicable to their companies and the rules of their required disclosures.”

Experts say legal repercussions, if any, could be civil or criminal in nature, depending in part on whether the CEO made a “good faith” mistake in understanding the significance of the backdated options or acted with criminal intent.

MORE FROM CORPORATE SCANDALS

Corporate Scandals Section Front

Charges dropped against Stockman Adviser gets 12 years in prison in fraud case Judge sentences ex-Refco CEO to 16 years Ex-Bear Stearns execs may face fraud charges Ex-CEO of Broadcom pleads not guilty Broadcom exec faces drug, conspiracy charges AIG sues ex-CEO Greenberg for breach of duty Appeals court orders new trial for Nacchio Lawyer gets 2 years for kickback scheme Corporate Casanova’s dirty secrets seeping out Corporate Scandals Section Front   Add Corporate Scandals headlines to your news reader: