The U.S. Department of Justice has ended its two-year criminal investigation into backdated stock options at Apple, and has decided not to bring charges against the company, or any current or former executives, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Lawyers representing two subjects of the investigation said they had been notified that the criminal inquiry is over. “We were always confident that after a full and fair review of the facts, there could be no other outcome,” said Cris Arguedas, a lawyer for Apple’s former general counsel, Nancy Heinen.
Heinen is still involved in a civil case brought against her and former Apple CFO Fred Anderson by the Securities and Exchange Commission over stock options awarded to CEO Steve Jobs. Anderson settled his civil case last year, and paid about $3.5 million in fees without admitting to any wrongdoing.
