LOS ANGELES(AP)
Federal authorities said Thursday that former Gemstar-TV Guide
International Inc. chairman Henry Yuen is a fugitive after he was
indicted on a felony obstruction charge that carries a possible
five-year prison term.
Yuen was convicted in federal court in 2006 of securities fraud
for inflating Gemstar's revenue by $248 million to boost its
stock price.
Gemstar and its TV Guide channel listing service were acquired
this month by Macrovision Solutions Corp. for $2.3 billion in cash
and stock.
The indictment against Yuen, filed Tuesday in U.S. District
Court in Los Angeles, charges him with deleting documents and
e-mails from his computer that the Securities and Exchange
Commission sought in the earlier prosecution.
"I'll call him a fugitive," said U.S. Attorney
spokesman Thom Mrozek. "We don't know where he is right
now. And by now, he should be aware of the charges against
him."
The U.S. Attorney directed those with information about
Yuen's whereabouts to contact the FBI.
Yuen's lawyer, David Scheper, did not immediately return a
message seeking comment.
Yuen has failed to pay the $22.3 million in fines and penalties
from his conviction in the Securities and Exchange Commission case.
That judgment was affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in April.
The court said the later revelation of the fraud caused the
company to lose $3 billion in market value after it corrected its
accounts.
The SEC has been unable to seize Yuen's assets and claimed
in a previous court filing that he gave $42 million to third
parties and moved substantial amounts of cash offshore in an
attempt to evade seizures of his assets.
SEC senior trial counsel John Bulgozdy said he expected Yuen to
pay eventually.
"We fully expect that now that the 9th Circuit has ruled
that Mr. Yuen will honor the judgment," Bulgozdy said.
A spokesman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision Solutions
Corp. declined to comment on the matter.
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