Broadcom Founders Fingered in Court

Federal prosecutors on Thursday identified the co-founders of the Broadcom Corporation, Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli, as “unindicted potential co-conspirators” in an investigation into the illegal backdating of stock options.

The revelation came as a former human resources executive, Nancy M. Tullos, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Ms. Tullos struck a deal with prosecutors last year and agreed to the plea in exchange for her cooperation.

Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Samueli were identified as “Executive A” and “Executive B” in the plea deal, but Federal District Judge Cormac J. Carney told prosecutors that not identifying them would undermine the factual basis of the plea deal and violate the principles of open court hearings.

A phone message left after business hours for a lawyer representing Mr. Nicholas was not returned. An e-mail message sent to a Broadcom spokesman also was not immediately returned.

In January 2007, Broadcom reduced previous financial results by $2.2 billion to account for improperly backdated stock option

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/technology/25options.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin