Skadden Accuses Broadcom Prosecutor of Grand-Jury and E-Mail Leaks
A motion filed by the law firm representing Broadcom’s former chief financial officer accuses a prosecutor who pursued backdating charges against company officials of leaking grand jury information and confidential e-mails.
The motion by Richard Marmaro of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom accused lead prosecutor Andrew Stolper of misconduct, the Daily Journal reports (sub. req.). The motion included letters of complaint from other lawyers representing Broadcom or former company executives.
One letter by Broadcom lawyer Brian Hennigan of Irell & Manella said his confidential conversations with Stolper ended up “splashed across the front page of the Los Angeles Times’ business section,” according to the Daily Journal story. In another letter, Gregory Weingart of Munger Tolles & Olson accuses the prosecutor of leaking confidential e-mails to the Wall Street Journal.
Sources told the Daily Journal that the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles removed Stolper from the prosecution of Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli after faulting him for the Los Angeles Times article. The investigation did not blame Stolper for the leaked e-mails, the source told the publication.
Stolper has denied the accusations, according to the letters. He told the Daily Journal he would respond in court filings.
Samueli had agreed to a backdating plea deal that included a hefty fine but not jail time, but in September a federal judge refused to accept it because it created the impression that “justice is for sale.”
