Apple Options Probe Spotlights Ex-Officials: Paper

The spotlight in Apple Computer stock options investigation is falling on two former company executives, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The company has not publicly named the former executives, but the Journal said they are former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson and former general counsel and board secretary Nancy Heinen, citing people familiar with the matter.

An Apple spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs received a vote of confidence from the company's board on Friday in a much-anticipated filing that also said it would take an $84 million charge for misdating stock options.

A source familiar with the matter told the Journal that Apple may argue that Anderson, as CFO, should have been responsible for proper accounting of backdated options.

Attorneys for Anderson and Heinen said their clients did nothing wrong, the Journal reported.

Anderson's attorney Jerome Roth said that Anderson "did not play any day-to-day role in the granting, reporting and accounting of stock options and he was not involved in any knowing manipulation of the process," the Journal said.

Heinen's attorney Cristina Arguedas said: "We absolutely deny that she did anything that could be called intentional misconduct," the Journal said.

Anderson is on the board of eBay , where he heads the audit committee, the Journal said. EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman said he would remain in both positions despite the allegations, the paper said.