BUSINESS BRIEFING / COURTS

Motorola Inc. accused its former chief financial officer Wednesday of hiding his tracks by wiping files from a company laptop.

The court filing is another move in an unusual legal battle set off by Paul Liska’s departure from the Schaumburg, Ill., company Jan. 29. Liska said he was fired from the maker of telecommunications equipment for trying to warn that its projections for its ailing cellphone business were too optimistic.

Motorola said Liska’s “erratic behavior” made the company look for a replacement late last year. When he found out about the search, he tried to extort the company, Motorola contends.

In its filing with a county court in Chicago, Motorola said Liska took a laptop with him when he left and returned it two weeks later after running a data destruction utility. Liska’s lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.