Critical Path Ex-Exec Pleads Guilty to Fraud

A former vice president of sales at San Francisco-based Critical Path Inc. has pleaded guilty to one count of insider trading, becoming the fourth former executive of the company to plead guilty to stock fraud, U.S. prosecutors said.

In January 2001, Jonathan Beck sold 27,343 shares of Critical Path stock for an average price of $24.54 and reaped proceeds of $671,213, said the U.S. attorney’s office for the northern district of California.

The prosecutors said Beck entered his plea Tuesday. He admitted selling the shares while he was aware that company executives were involved in a scheme to inflate revenue at the e-mail software and services provider.