Apple sued again over options

Apple was sued by two shareholders claiming Chief Executive Steve Jobs and other managers backdated stock-option awards to maximize their personal profit.

The complaint was filed in federal court in San Jose, Calif., by Martin Vogel, who had a similar case dismissed last year by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel.

Vogel and co-plaintiff Kenneth Mahoney said in the new complaint, again assigned to Fogel, that Apple executives hid the cost of the backdated options from shareholders, leading the company to file false financial statements.

Vogel seeks class-action status to represent other investors affected by the backdating.

The executives "granted themselves in-the-money options while falsifying company records and publicly filed documents to create the appearance that the options had been granted at the market price on an earlier date," according to the complaint filed June 27.

The claims mirror allegations made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a lawsuit against former Apple General Counsel Nancy Heinen, who is also named as a defendant in the shareholder suit. The SEC case is scheduled for trial next year.

Apple spokeswoman Susan Lundgren declined to comment Wednesday on the investor suit.

Patrice Bishop, a lawyer representing shareholders, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Apple, maker of the iPod and iPhone music-and-video players, said in 2006 it had backdated 6,428 stock-option grants issued from 1997 to 2002.

The company conducted an internal investigation, finding no misconduct by Jobs, who recommended favorable dates on some option grants other than his own. It recorded $84 million in charges to correct its accounting.

Stock options allow holders to buy shares later, usually at the trading price on the day the options were granted. Through backdating, companies retroactively change grant dates to those with lower stock prices, giving recipients built-in profits.

Unless disclosed and recorded as expenses, the practice is illegal because it hides costs from shareholders and regulators.

Apple shares fell $6.50 Wednesday to $168.18.