Apple moral voice pleads guilty to immorality

Who would have thunk it

The person who Apple appointed to lecture its staff on the dangers of insider trading has admitted six counts of insider trading.

Gene Levoff was selected by Apple to be the moral voice of its managers and was the company’s former corporate secretary and director of corporate law.

Leading by example, Levoff following the highest moral standards by misappropriating material, and nonpublic information about Apple’s financial results and then executed trades involving the company’s stock.

Levoff served on Apple’s Disclosure Committee, a group that looked over company earnings reports and SEC filings before they were published. Using information he was privy to, he was allegedly able to realize profits of “approximately $227,000 on certain trades” and avoided losses of “approximately $377,000 on others,” according to the DOJ.

Levoff also disregarded the company’s quarterly “blackout periods,” even after telling others that they could not buy or sell Apple stock during that time, and the company’s insider trading policy.

Apple was so impressed with his work he was promoted to co-chairman of Apple’s Disclosure Committee, which reviewed and discussed the company’s draft quarterly and yearly earnings materials and periodic U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

When Apple posted strong revenue and net profit for a given financial quarter, he purchased large quantities of stock, which he later sold for a profit once the market reacted to the news. When there were lower-than-anticipated revenue and net profit, Levoff sold large quantities of Apple stock, avoiding significant losses.

He did this from February 2011 to April 2016, the release says. Apparently, Apple didn’t complain about him and the charges against Levoff were initially filed by the SEC as a civil complaint in 2019.

Even after he was charged, Levoff tried to have the case thrown out as unconstitutional claiming that no statute specifically bars insider trading. So in other words the guy who advised Apple staff on insider trading believed that such antics was their constitutional right.

Apple is not commenting on the case, or publically said that it has taken staff training steps to remind staff that it is not their constitional right to screw over shareholders.

Levoff’s sentencing is scheduled for November 10th. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

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