Apple, Inc., CEO Steve Jobs, and a number of company executives have been re-accused of fraud in a new lawsuit filed in California last week. Along with former Apple CFO Fred Anderson, former General Counsel Nancy Heinen, and board members William V. Campbell, Millard S. Drexler, Arthur D. Levinson and Jerome P. York, Jobs and Apple are accused of knowingly defrauding shareholders with stock option backdating, a scandal which resulted in federal U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges against Anderson and Heinen, but no prosecution of Jobs. The civil complaint claims all the named parties were aware of the illegal nature of the backdating, stating: “The defendants knew that options were not granted on the dates that were disclosed to shareholders and falsified the company’s records to create the appearance of illegality, and thus bear direct responsibility for their actions.” [via Macworld UK]
Updated: The new filing, by plaintiffs Martin Vogel and Kenneth Mahoney, is a re-initiation of a previous attempt at a class action lawsuit against Apple, Jobs, and the company’s executives and directors. Vogel’s prior suit, known as Vogel v. Jobs et al., was previously dismissed with prejudice, and awaiting the filing of an amended consolidated class action complaint.