Billionaire Waits at Courthouse for Possible Broadcom Indictment

White Collar Crime

Billionaire Waits at Courthouse for Possible Broadcom Indictment

Posted Jun 4, 2008, 12:24 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Ordinarily, when a major corporate figure is about to be indicted, prosecutors notify his lawyers so he can turn himself in rather than be arrested and paraded past media photographers in a "perp walk."

But the relationship between federal prosecutors and lawyers for billionaire Henry Nicholas III, the former CEO of Broadcom, apparently is strained. So he spent much of last Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., waiting to see whether an indictment might be handed down by a grand jury investigating possible stock options backdating at the Irvine, Calif., semiconductor company, reports the Daily Journal (sub. req.).

And he is planning to do the same thing today. In addition to avoiding adverse publicity, the unusual tactic could give Nicholas an edge in a bail hearing. While he shouldn't have any difficulty posting bail, sources say his lawyers are worried about possible restrictions that might be set.

"What better argument can you make to the judge than, 'Hey, I showed up to the court to wait for indictment?' " says an unnamed attorney who admires the defense strategy.

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