A federal judge has dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit against the former chief executive officer of computer manufacturer Gateway, a rare rebuke of the Securities and Exchange Commission that underscores how fraud cases have evolved since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
San Diego District Court Judge Roger Benitez granted summary judgment late last month in favor of Jeffrey Weitzen, who served as Gateway’s chief executive from January 2000 to January 2001. Weitzen and two other former executives had been facing fraud charges filed by the SEC, alleging that the men had inflated revenue figures to meet Wall Street expectations.
