BEDFORD, Mass.—Prepaid services provider Boston Communications Group Inc. appears to be the latest wireless company to fall under suspicion for questionably timed stock-options grants.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, BCGI approved stock-options grants to senior executives three times during a five-year span at the lowest possible price for the calendar year. BCGI Chief Executive Officer E.Y. Snowden twice received options dated at the issue’s lowest point during a fiscal quarter, according to the report.
The newspaper said Snowden did not return calls for comment, and a spokeswoman from BCGI was not immediately available to respond to a request from RCR Wireless News.
Shares of BCGI slid 4 percent, or 6 cents, to $1.46 per share following the news. The company is also in the process of appealing last year’s $128 million judgment in a patent-infringement case brought by Freedom Wireless L.L.C. Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Verizon Wireless and Alltel Corp. dropped BCGI’s real-time billing platform for prepaid wireless service in the wake of the ruling.
Meanwhile, Openwave Systems Inc. said it received a letter of informal inquiry from the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the broadening investigation into stock-options grants. In a prepared statement, Openwave said it “intends to cooperate fully” with the inquiry.
Comverse Technology Inc. has already been rattled by allegations regarding stock-options grants. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York launched a criminal investigation into questionable grants, and the company announced a front-office shakeup earlier this month that saw founder and CEO Kobi Alexander step down.
