Nicholas loses bid to avoid federal trial
Henry T. Nicholas III, the billionaire co-founder of Irvine computer chip maker Broadcom Corp., has lost a battle in his effort to avoid a trial on charges that he illegally manipulated stock options.
U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney ruled Monday against 13 motions to dismiss the case made by attorneys for Nicholas and another Broadcom executive.
Nicholas and William J. Ruehle, former Broadcom Corp. chief financial officer, were indicted by a grand jury in June on 21 counts of fraud for backdating millions of Broadcom stock options. Nicholas also was accused of supplying drugs and prostitutes to Broadcom customers. Ruehle and Nicholas, who stepped down as Broadcom’s chief executive in 2003, have pleaded not guilty.
Nicholas’ attorneys said that the U.S. attorney’s office had leaked information to the news media that damaged Nicholas, had bullied witnesses and had coerced a former Broadcom employee into pleading guilty to a nonexistent crime to get her to testify.
“Defendants have not provided sufficient evidence that the government engaged in misconduct with respect to potential witnesses in its case against defendants,” Carney wrote.
Carney did order prosecutors to provide the defense information about the grand jury selection.
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