SAN JOSE, Calif. – Apple Inc.(AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to give a deposition in a stock-options backdating case against Apple's former general counsel, a person familiar with the case told The Associated Press Thursday.
Jobs was subpoenaed as part of the discovery process in the SEC's civil case against Nancy Heinen, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing.
Heinen is accused of fraudulent backdating and of altering company records to conceal the fraud.
The case, filed in April in the U.S. District Court of Northern California in San Jose, centers on two large options grants to Apple executives in 2001, including one to Jobs.
Jobs has not been charged by the SEC, and people familiar with the matter say the subpoenas do not indicate he is being targeted. He is being ordered to testify.
Heinen is fighting the SEC's allegations that she modified documents to backdate the grant to Jobs, to reflect that it had been approved during an October 2001 meeting that never occurred.
During the SEC investigation which led to the case against Heinen, Jobs was interviewed. Apple, which conducted a separate probe on the matter, cleared Jobs of any misconduct.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment.
The subpoena to Jobs was first reported by Bloomberg on Thursday.
Court records indicate the SEC issued a total of three subpoenas last month, and stated that one of them went to Heinen. The identity of the third recipient is unclear.
Marc Fagel, an assistant regional director of the SEC in San Francisco, confirmed that subpoenas were issued in the case but said he could not comment on who received them or why.
Additional subpoenas are expected, according to court records, but the two parties are still arguing over how many depositions should be allowed in the case.
In addition to Heinen, the SEC charged former Apple chief financial officer Fred Anderson in connection with Apple's backdating troubles. Anderson, however, immediately settled the case. Without acknowledging wrongdoing, he agreed to pay about $3.5 million in fines and penalties.
No trial date has been set. The SEC has proposed a trial date in September 2008. The defense proposes March 2009.
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