A federal judge has thrown out all criminal and civil charges related to the stock options backdating scandal at Broadcom Corp. amid accusations of prosecutorial misconduct.
U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney of Santa Ana, Calif., dismissed with prejudice the cases against William Ruehle, the former chief financial officer of Broadcom, and Henry Nicholas, one of the company’s co-founders.
Carney also dismissed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s civil case against Ruehle, Nicholas, co-founder Henry Samueli and David Dull, the former general counsel of the company.
Ruehle’s lawyers filed a motion on Dec. 4 raising at least four instances in which the government allegedly engaged in misconduct, including threatening witnesses with perjury charges depending on their testimony in the criminal trial.
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