Chip designer Broadcom Corp said on Tuesday it had received and complied with grand jury subpoenas for documents on stock options grants as part of a widening probe into its accounting practices. The company also said federal prosecutors had begun to interview present and former Broadcom employees as part of the investigation.
Broadcom disclosed the developments in a quarterly 10-Q filing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. It had previously disclosed that the government was investigating its stock options practices.
The company, which makes chips for networking gear, mobile phones, video equipment and other communications products, is among more than 170 companies that have been investigated by federal authorities or conducted internal inquiries into possible manipulation of stock option grant dates.
Last September, William Ruehle stepped down as Broadcom's chief financial officer after nine years in that position. The Irvine, California, company said at the time that Ruehle had decided to retire early as a result of the stock options probe, which was announced earlier that month.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told Reuters last week that his agency expects to wrap up many of the options cases it is investigating within the next few weeks.