LOS ANGELES AP – A federal grand jury on Thursday returned an indictment charging the former chairman and chief executive of KB Home with multiple counts of fraud and other crimes related to a stock option backdating scheme that authorities say bilked the homebuilder’s shareholders out of millions of dollars.
The 20-count indictment charges Bruce E. Karatz with 15 counts of mail, wire and securities fraud, four counts of making false statements in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and one count of lying to the company’s accountants, according to the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
