Litigation Releases (Gene Daniel Levoff)

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 26045 / July 8, 2024

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gene Daniel Levoff, No. 2:19-cv-05536 (D.N.J. filed Feb. 13, 2019)

Federal Court Orders $1,147,440 Penalty Against Attorney For Insider Trading

On July 2, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the Securities and Exchange Commission summary judgment for insider trading charges against Gene Daniel Levoff, a former senior attorney at Apple Inc. whose duties included executing the company's insider trading compliance efforts. Among other relief, Levoff was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,147,440-treble Levoff's profits obtained and losses avoided.

The SEC's complaint alleged that Levoff, an attorney who previously served as Apple's global head of corporate law and corporate secretary, received confidential information about Apple's quarterly earnings announcements in his role on a committee of senior executives who reviewed the company's draft earnings materials prior to their public dissemination. Using this confidential information, the complaint alleged, Levoff traded Apple securities ahead of three quarterly earnings announcements in 2015 and 2016 and made approximately $382,000 in combined profits and losses avoided. According to the complaint, Levoff was responsible for securities laws compliance at Apple, including compliance with insider trading laws. As part of his responsibilities, Levoff reviewed and approved the company's insider trading policy and notified employees of their obligations under the policy each quarter prior to earnings announcements.

The Court granted summary judgment in favor of the SEC and found Levoff violated the antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, as well as the Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The relief granted includes a permanent injunction, disgorgement and prejudgment interest deemed satisfied by his forfeiture payment in a parallel criminal action, and an officer-and-director bar, in addition to the civil penalty of $1,147,440.

On June 30, 2022, Levoff pled guilty to federal criminal charges for securities fraud in a parallel criminal action before the District Court of New Jersey in United States v. Levoff, No. 2:19-cr-00780.

The SEC's litigation was handled by Daniel Maher, David Nasse, Pei Chung, Elizabeth Doisy, Chantal Russell, Deborah A. Tarasevich and Stacy Bogert.