Boardcom’s Samueli Lied to SEC

Broadcom co-founder and former CTO Henry Samueli yesterday pleaded guilty to lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission during a probe into the backdating of stock options, according to CNNMoney.

Samueli pled guilty yesterday in Santa Ana, Calif., court to making a false statement to the SEC. Last month, the SEC filed a civil suit against Samueli and Broadcom Co-founder and former CEO Henry T. Nicholas III, leading Samueli to step aside as chairman and chief technical officer of Broadcom, which makes chips used in a variety of products, including Apple iPhones and Nintendo Wii game consoles.

The SEC is also seeking to bar Samueli from serving as an officer of a public company, though Broadcom has said in a statement that the plea agreement, if approved at sentencing, would allow Samueli to remain as a technical adviser.

A federal grand jury indicted Nicholas this month on 25 counts of backdating stock options, distributing drugs to associates and spiking the drinks of Broadcom customers. He has pleaded not guilty.

Samueli's plea agreement does not require him to cooperate with or testify for the government. Legal experts told the Los Angeles Times it would be problematic for prosecutors to call a witness who had admitted to lying to the SEC although U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney suggested Samueli might wind up on the stand -- for the defense.

In January 2002, Samueli told Nancy Tullow, the company’s former vice president of human resources, in an email, to backdate stock options for certain officers. In a 2007 deposition, Samueli told the SEC investigators that he had not been involved, according to CNNMoney.

At a hearing in August, Carney will decide whether he approves the terms of a plea agreement Samueli has with federal prosecutors. According to that agreement, Samueli would serve five years probation, make a payment of $12 million to the U.S. Treasury, and pay a fine of $250,000.

Nicholas, indicted earlier this month on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and drug charges, is accused of drugging business associates with ecstasy, maintaining a drug warehouse, and making bribes and death threats.