America’s Department of Justice announced on Thursday that Gene Levoff, former Head of Corporate Law at Apple Inc. has pleaded guilty to a charge of six counts of securities fraud.

The former top lawyer at Apple has admitted to what prosecutors have termed as a five-year scheme to trade ahead of Apple’s quarterly financial report. Gene pleaded his guilt in front of a hearing before the United States District Judge William Martini in Newark, New York City.

From 2011 to 2016, Gene Levoff allegedly exploited his position as the corporate secretary, head of corporate law, and co-head of a committee tasked with reviewing drafts of Apple’s financial results to generate a little over $604,000 of illegal profit on more than $14 million worth of trades.

Prosecutors stated that Gene blatantly ignored Apple’s insider trading policy which he was responsible for amending and enforcing. He also ignored the quarterly “blackout periods” that forbade trading before the company’s quarterly results were released.

Apple had fired him in September 2018, five months before he was criminally charged to court. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed related civil charges. Gene Levoff’s lawyer did not immediately respond to the allegations as all efforts to reach him and his legal team proved abortive.

His sentencing is set to hold on 10th November 2022. Levoff is looking at a maximum 20-year term and a $5 million fine although his sentence would be likely much less. Authorities have stated that the servers that handled Levoff’s illegal trades were based in New Jersey which is why the criminal court case was filed in the state.

Featured image source: CNBC