Apple store on June 29, 2014, in Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: ShutterstockApple's Former Corporate Legal Head Charged With Insider Trading
Gene Levoff, the former global head of corporate law and corporate secretary of Apple Inc., has been charged with insider trading. The SEC and the District of New Jersey brought parallel charges against Levoff on Wednesday.
February 13, 2019 at 03:15 PM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New Jersey Law Journal
Apple Inc.'s former senior securities lawyer has been charged with insider trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.
The Cupertino, California-based company's former global head of corporate law and corporate secretary Gene Levoff allegedly traded Apple securities based on confidential information he received as part of an executive committee that reviews draft earnings materials. In 2015 and 2016, the SEC claims Levoff made around $382,000 in combined gains and avoided losses by trading Apple securities ahead of three quarterly earnings.
“Levoff's alleged exploitation of his access to Apple's financial information was particularly egregious given his responsibility for implementing the company's insider trading compliance policy,” said Antonia Chion, associate director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, in a press release. “The SEC is committed to pursuing insiders who breach their duties to investors.”
Levoff, 45, faces parallel charges in the District of New Jersey, also brought Wednesday. A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said Levoff “engaged in a scheme to defraud the company and its shareholders” from February 2011 until April 2016. Charges of securities fraud carry a potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine in the state.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamari Buxton and Daniel Shapiro will represent the government. Kevin Marino, the founding partner of New Jersey-based Marino, Tortorella & Boyle, is Levoff's defense counsel. Levoff is scheduled to appear in Newark federal court Feb. 20.
“We are in the process of reviewing the allegations against Mr. Levoff, and we look forward to defending him with respect to those allegations,” Marino told the New Jersey Law Journal Wednesday.
According to the SEC, Levoff oversaw Apple's securities law compliance during his time at the company, reviewing and approving its insider trading policy and notifying employees of their responsibilities under U.S. law. The SEC complaint states Levoff was terminated from Apple in Sept. 2018, at which time he reported directly to the company's general counsel.
Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment. The SEC declined to comment further on the charges.
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