Former Apple Lawyer Fined $1.15 Million After Insider Trading Conviction

Former Apple director of corporate law Gene Levoff has been ordered to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $1.15 million for insider trading, reports Reuters. Late last year, Levoff was sentenced to four years of probation and a fine, avoiding a possible two-year jail sentence.

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At the time, the fine had not been determined, but the judge presiding over the case handed down a ruling on Tuesday. The judge said that Levoff's violations were "especially egregious" even though he had not been "living excessively."

At Apple, Levoff's role included making sure Apple employees were compliant with the company's insider trading policies, which is why the judge decided that his violation was of particular concern.

Because Levoff was meant to prevent insider trading at Apple, he had access to Apple's earnings results before they were made available to the public. He used the information that he learned to buy Apple shares ahead of better-than-expected results, and to sell shares when there were weaker-than-expected earnings. Levoff's shady stock dealings earned him approximately $277,000, while helping him avoid losses of around $377,000.

In July 2015, for example, Levoff knew Apple would not meet analysts' third quarter estimates for iPhone sales, so he sold $10 million in Apple stock between July 17 and July 21, which is when Apple's earnings information went live. After the announcement, Apple stock dropped more than four precent.

Levoff worked at Apple from 2011 to 2018, but he abused his insider information between 2011 and 2016. Apple fired him in September 2018 after the authorities contacted the company about Levoff's dealings. In June 2022, Levoff pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud for insider trading. Federal prosecutors pushed for jail time to deter other corporate executives from insider trading, but the judge did not feel that it was necessary because Levoff was fired and is no longer able to practice law.

Tag: SEC

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Top Rated Comments

CapitalIdea Avatar
16 months ago
Pardon my language, but if his crimes were “especially egregious” his ass should be behind bars.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
16 months ago

Levoff's shady stock dealings earned him approximately $277,000
Ironic, as you'd think someone who worked as Director of Corporate Law at Apple would get paid way more than $277,000 per year... he really lost his job over what's probably a relatively small amount of money for him. ?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Analog Kid Avatar
16 months ago

Ironic, as you'd think someone who worked as Director of Corporate Law at Apple would get paid way more than $277,000 per year... he really lost his job over what's probably a relatively small amount of money for him. ?
What's ironic is that he did this to avoid a loss in 2015



Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sai Zelion Avatar
16 months ago
“Fined”

Don’t we all wish we can be FINED for a $1.15 Mil crime?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GeoStructural Avatar
16 months ago

Pardon my language, but if his crimes were “especially egregious” his ass should be behind bars.
This type of crime often gets met with a slap on the wrist. Too many high profile people engage in these.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfzen21 Avatar
16 months ago
His job title was, "Do as I say, not as I do!"
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)