A former executive at Irvine’s Broadcom Corp. is set to plead guilty to obstruction of justice as part of a federal investigation into stock options backdating at the chipmaker, according to several news reports.
Ex-human relations head Nancy Tullos agreed to cooperate with investigators on the options probe as part of a plea deal.
The plea agreement could come as early as this week, according to a Los Angeles Times report that cited three individuals close to the investigation.
Tullos plea deal increases the pressure on Broadcom cofounder and former chief executive Henry “Nick” Nicholas and former chief financial officer Bill Ruehle, who themselves are under federal investigations.
Broadcom took charges of more than $2 billion to past earnings as a result of the backdating, more than any of the some 200 companies who were investigated for options manipulation.
Securities and Exchange Commission filings made in January showed that an internal review by Broadcom found “significant responsibility” for improperly backdated stock options with Nicholas.
The audit also found that other executives, including Tullos, also held responsibility.
Tullos left Broadcom in October 2004, a year after Nicholas stepped down.
Tullos, 56, has worked in human resources jobs at Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. and before joining Broadcom in September 1998. She left the company in October 2004 and later served a stint at Aliso Viejo’s QLogic Corp.
