Former Corporate Attorney for Apple Pleads Guilty to Insider Trader

A corporate lawyer for Apple Inc. is facing decades in prison for insider trading.

According to the United States Justice Department, 48-year-old Gene Levoff is pleading guilty to participating in a five-year scheme in which he used insider information to generate six figures in illegal profits. Levoff reportedly joined the company back in 2008 and held several positions in the following years, including co-chair of Apple’s disclosure committee, the director of corporate law, and corporate secretary. Under the latter position, Levoff was reportedly tasked with preventing the very crimes for which he was charged.

NPR reports he was terminated by Apple in 2018, shortly before he was criminally charged.

Prosecutors allege Levoff exploited his role within the company between 2011 and 2016, when he misappropriated private information about Apple’s finances and then used it to trade company stock. The scheme reportedly netted Levoff $277,000 in personal gains and helped him dodge about $377,000 in losses.

“Gene Levoff betrayed the trust of one of the world’s largest tech companies for his own financial gain,” Attorney for the United States Khanna said. “Despite being responsible for enforcing Apple’s own ban on insider trading, Levoff used his position of trust to commit insider trading in order to line his own pockets. This Office will continue to prioritize securities fraud prosecutions.”

Levoff pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud on Thursday. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $5 million and 20 years in prison. However, CNCBC reports he’s expected to receive a much lighter sentence during a court hearing in November.