Judge Hits ‘Underappreciated Despicableness’ of Backdating
A New York federal judge in the news for his tough stance in a Bank of America securities settlement isn’t mincing words in a different case involving a former in-house lawyer and backdated stock options.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff sentenced Myron Olesnyckyj, former general counsel for Monster Worldwide Inc., to one year of probation Tuesday, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. Olesnyckyj pleaded guilty in 2007 and cooperated in the backdating investigation.
Rakoff noted the “underappreciated despicableness” of backdating crimes at Monster and other companies, the story says.
“It is troubling that backdating stock options and the accounting fraud they generated were seemingly so widespread in corporate America,” Rakoff said. “Stripped to its essence, it was high executives choosing to lie to line their pockets.”
