That statement was false, Samueli said Monday, because in January 2002 he twice helped to decide the date on which options should be granted. In his plea, he admitted being part of the options-granting process but stopped short of acknowledging that the options awards were flawed.
Stock options are rights to buy shares at a set price at a future date. If the stock price goes up, recipients make money. Irvine-based Broadcom, like many other technology companies, backdated the grant dates to take advantage of dates when the stock price was low, so that the options were already "in the money" when they were awarded.
During the tech boom, Samueli and Broadcom co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III awarded millions of stock options to attract and reward employees. Samueli and Nicholas didn't receive backdated options themselves, but prosecutors alleged they granted them to others, including some other top executives, to avoid having to report $2.2 billion in compensation costs to shareholders.
Last month, the SEC filed a civil suit against Samueli and Nicholas, 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 said in a statement that the plea agreement, if approved at sentencing, would allow Samueli to remain as a technical advisor.
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 and faces the possibility of lengthy prison time if convicted.
Samueli's plea agreement does not require him to cooperate with or testify for the government. Legal experts said it would be problematic for prosecutors to call a witness who had admitted to lying to the SEC. Even so, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney suggested Samueli might wind up on the stand -- for the defense.
"I don't think I have to be a rocket scientist to think Dr. Nicholas is going to call him," Carney said.
Samueli's attorney, Gordon Greenberg of Los Angeles, said he was aware that might occur. He acknowledged that if Nicholas called Samueli to the stand, Carney might rule that Samueli had waived any right not to testify on grounds he might incriminate himself.
