By Vega
A former top Apple lawyer who was in charge of preventing insider trading at the company was himself indicted on insider trading charges.
Gene Levoff — who worked at the iPhone maker for a decade between 2008 and 2018 — allegedly used his access to inside information such as early, unpublished financial results to trade Apple stock, the US Attorney in New Jersey said Thursday.
When Apple had strong revenue in a quarter, he would buy large quantities of stock, which he would then sell after earnings were reported.
“This scheme to defraud [Apple] and its shareholders allowed Levoff to realize profits of approximately $227,000 on certain trades and to avoid losses of approximately $377,000 on others,” the government’s press release read.
Levoff allegedly flouted company rules which subjected him to regular blackout periods — during which he was not supposed to trade stock until Apple announced its earnings — and instead traded on his information.
Levoff’s responsibilities while senior director of corporate law “included ensuring compliance with [Apple’s] Insider Trading Policy,” according to the indictment.
Levoff was charged with six counts of wire fraud and six counts of securities fraud, each of which carries a max sentence of 20 years, as well as millions in fines.
