The indictment, filed in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, alleges that Levoff took advantage of knowing details of Apple’s financial results before they were made public. He is accused of having repeatedly traded Apple stock based on this insider knowledge between 2011 and 2016 during ‘blackout’ periods when employees cannot trade stock.

“Levoff repeatedly executed trades based on material, non-public information without [Apple’s] knowledge or authorisation,” a Department of Justice statement said.

“This scheme to defraud Company-1 and its shareholders allowed Levoff to realise profits of approximately $227,000 on certain trades and to avoid losses of approximately $377,000 on others,” it continued. “Levoff used his position to obtain material, non-public financial information about Company-1. Levoff used this confidential information to buy and sell stock in Company-1 ahead of its quarterly earnings announcements.

“When Levoff discovered that Company-1 had 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 he learned that Company-1 had posted lower-than-anticipated revenue and net profit, he sold large quantities of Company-1 stock, avoiding significant losses.”

According to a Bloomberg report, in one instance Levoff sold approximately $10m in Apple stock after learning that iPhone sales had fallen short of predictions. Once the news went public, Apple stock fell more than four per cent.

Levoff faces six criminal counts of securities fraud and six counts of wire fraud, having previously been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil case [PDF]. Each criminal count could be punished with a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment in addition to fines of $5m, while each count of securities fraud could be punished with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Levoff joined Apple in 2008 and served as senior director of corporate law from 2013 to 2018. In this role, Levoff was responsible for enforcing Apple’s Insider Trading Policy. He was dismissed by Apple in September 2018 after the company was tipped off by authorities and conducted its own internal investigation with the help of independent legal experts.

Kevin Marino, who is representing Levoff, told CNBC that: “We look forward to vigorously defending Mr Levoff with respect to these allegations.”

The indictment, filed in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, alleges that Levoff took advantage of knowing details of Apple’s financial results before they were made public. He is accused of having repeatedly traded Apple stock based on this insider knowledge between 2011 and 2016 during ‘blackout’ periods when employees cannot trade stock.

“Levoff repeatedly executed trades based on material, non-public information without [Apple’s] knowledge or authorisation,” a Department of Justice statement said.

“This scheme to defraud Company-1 and its shareholders allowed Levoff to realise profits of approximately $227,000 on certain trades and to avoid losses of approximately $377,000 on others,” it continued. “Levoff used his position to obtain material, non-public financial information about Company-1. Levoff used this confidential information to buy and sell stock in Company-1 ahead of its quarterly earnings announcements.

“When Levoff discovered that Company-1 had 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 he learned that Company-1 had posted lower-than-anticipated revenue and net profit, he sold large quantities of Company-1 stock, avoiding significant losses.”

According to a Bloomberg report, in one instance Levoff sold approximately $10m in Apple stock after learning that iPhone sales had fallen short of predictions. Once the news went public, Apple stock fell more than four per cent.

Levoff faces six criminal counts of securities fraud and six counts of wire fraud, having previously been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil case [PDF]. Each criminal count could be punished with a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment in addition to fines of $5m, while each count of securities fraud could be punished with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Levoff joined Apple in 2008 and served as senior director of corporate law from 2013 to 2018. In this role, Levoff was responsible for enforcing Apple’s Insider Trading Policy. He was dismissed by Apple in September 2018 after the company was tipped off by authorities and conducted its own internal investigation with the help of independent legal experts.

Kevin Marino, who is representing Levoff, told CNBC that: “We look forward to vigorously defending Mr Levoff with respect to these allegations.”