CEO Bruce Karatz

A federal judge in Los Angeles has rebuffed an effort by the former chief executive of building giant KB Home to exclude materials related to his marriage settlement and other evidence during his upcoming trial for allegedly manipulating stock options. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright denied the motion Monday by Bruce E. Karatz's lawyers to exclude the settlement filings and eight other categories of evidence. Karatz pleaded not guilty in March to 19 counts, including mail, wire and securities fraud and making false statements in reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He remains free on bond. Karatz's attorney John Keker did not return ... Read Full Story

NEW YORK (Reuters) - KB Home shares <KBH.N> fell nearly 6 percent Monday, the first trading day after the homebuilder said it was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over possible accounting and disclosure issues. The SEC staff notified the company on October 2 that a formal order of investigation had been issued, KB Home said in an SEC filing on Friday. The Los Angeles-based company said it was cooperating with the SEC. SEC staff told the company its investigation should not be construed as an indication that there had been any violation of federal securities laws, according to the filing. ... Read Full Story

Having begun a formal probe by the SEC in 2007, a federal grand jury has indicted Bruce Karatz. The 20-count indictment included seven counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud, three counts of securities fraud, four counts of lying in statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and one count of lying to KB Home’s accountants. Well…with all those indictments, if found guilty on all charges, Mr. Karatz could face up to 415 years in prison. Seems like the alleged frauds are getting larger as are the potential sentences. Reported by the Dallas Business Journal: Los Angeles-based KB Home was the ... Read Full Story

The U.S. attorney's office says the former chairman and CEO of KB Home has been named in an indictment charging him with conspiring to defraud the homebuilder and shareholders through a stock option backdating scheme. The U.S. attorney for the Central District of California said Thursday Bruce Karatz faces several counts of mail, wire and securities fraud and making false statements in reports filed with securities regulators. Prosecutors also accuse Karatz of concealing the scheme to inflate the value of his stock options from an internal investigation. Karatz stepped down in 2006 after it was disclosed that he benefited from favorably dated stock option ... Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating KB Home for possible accounting and disclosure issues, the company disclosed. KB Home, one of the largest home builders in the United States, revealed the investigation in a quarterly regularity filing Friday and confirmed it in an e-mail Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported. KB Home spokeswoman Heather Reeves said in the e-mail. Former KB Home Chief Executive Bruce Karatz faces trial in federal court on charges of fraudulently manipulated stock options. He resigned in 2006 after an interval investigation concluded he backdated stock option grants to generate a pay ... Read Full Story