Broadcom Corp.’s ex-finance chief William Ruehle’s federal fraud trial is all set to begin from Friday. The charge of understating the chipmaker’s compensation expenses from the years 1999 to 2005 along with conspiring to conceal the same by backdating options have been leveled against Ruehle and Henry “Nick” Nicholas who is the co-founder and former chief executive of  Broadcom. Both are charged with various other fraud charges as well where they have pleaded not guilty.

Though both Ruehle and Nicholas had left Broadcom in the years 2006 and 2003 respectively, the Irvine chipmaker stayed in the limelight for its key role in backdating options. To indicate charges of $2.2 billion for the backdated stock options, Broadcom restated financial results of several past years in the beginning of the year 2007. It was the largest bill in business history involving a probe by the government. 

The U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney would be in command of the proceedings in Santa Ana. As per the Orange County Register report, the trial period would be of nine weeks. The selection of the jury continued from Wednesday to Thursday. In very current days, Richard Marmaro who is Ruehle’s defense lawyer has made many efforts to either delay or stop the trial completely. The trial proceedings for Nicholas would begin once Ruehle’s trial concludes.

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