Investors file new suit against Apple execs, directors
Shareholders of Apple Computer have filed a new derivative suit against company executives and directors, marking the third such suit since Apple in late June said it had discovered several irregularities related to stock option grants.
In the complaint, shareholders allege that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties and colluded with one another to: improperly backdate grants of Apple stock options, improperly record and account for the backdated stock options in violation of GAAP, and improperly take tax deductions based on the backdated stock options in violation of the Tax Code.
The complaint also charges the defendants with producing and disseminating to shareholders false financial statements and other SEC filings that improperly recorded and accounted for the backdated option grants thereby concealing the improper backdating of stock options.
In a statement in late June, Apple announced an internal probe related to the issuance of certain stock option grants made between 1997 and 2001. On Friday, the company issued an updated statement, saying it had discovered additional evidence of irregularities and would likely need to restate its historical financial statements.
Keller Rohrback L.L.P, a firm representing Apple shareholders in the latest suit, said it is also investigating similar allegations related to the granting of stock options at over five dozen other companies, including: Activision, Applied Micro Circuits Corp, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Broadcom, Cheesecake Factory, Computer Associates, Home Depot, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Marvell Technology, Rambus, and VeriSign.
Apple executives and directors have been the target of two previous lawsuits also filed by investors due to the company's shady option grant filings.
9 Comments
It seems to me that with the runup in Apple stock over the years in which this is alleged to occur, that they're going to have a very difficult time proving any damages were inflicted.
Yeah, why the frack are the Investors suing? Don't they know this could actually cause the shares to GO DOWN? Dumbassssssses. Apple has already voluntarily come up with some independent probes and stuff, and is being open about "Oh frack, some more irregularities". What's the point of going off and suing them on top of that? It's greed. Greed of the lawyers, and greed on the part of the Investors who obviously aren't happy of the, oh, say, TRIPLING of their AAPL share prices. Wankers.
......due to the company's shady option grant filings....
Certainly accountability and "shady" practices going on should be looked at, for any company. I'm not blindly defending Apple. Just reiterating that they are already openly investigating these issues, suing them won't make things go faster, it's just money wasted on lawyers.
*Yawn* Who cares? For now, bring on the juicy WWDC news!
(Monday will be one of the biggest days of my young life. ^_^)
I doubt the "investors" are bringing this lawsuit against Apple, smells like a class-action suit brought by fearless law firms jealously defending our rights as investors.