A jury began deliberations Friday in the monthlong stock option backdating trial of former KB Home Chief Executive Bruce Karatz.
Karatz, who faces 20 felony charges, is accused of making millions of dollars by backdating options and then trying to hide the practice from shareholders and outside accountants.
The jury of nine men and three women began deliberations Friday afternoon in the Los Angeles courtroom of U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II. Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul G. Stern told jurors that Karatz backdated stock options from 1999 to 2005, making $6 million in illegal profit in the process.
Defense attorney John Keker said Karatz did nothing improper and was open with accountants and lawyers about how grant dates for the options were chosen. Karatz, 64, who served as KB’s chief executive from 1986 to 2006, did not testify at the trial.
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