A former Apple executive was just accused of insider trading by the SEC

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• Gene Levoff, who worked as Apple's Senior Director of Corporate Law and Corporate Secretary until September 2018, has been accused of insider trading by the SEC.
• The SEC's lawsuit suit, filed Wednesday morning, says Levoff exploited his positions to unlawfully trade Apple securities ahead of Apple's quarterly earnings announcements.
• Levoff has profited and avoided losses of approximately $382,000 through illegal insider trading that took place from 2015-2016, according to the SEC.

Former Apple executive Gene Levoff has been accused of insider trading by the SEC, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The lawsuit alleges that Levoff, formerly Apple's Senior Director of Corporate Law and Corporate Secretary, "exploited his positions as a senior attorney and a member Apple's Disclosure Committee to unlawfully trade Apple securities ahead of Apple quarterly earnings announcements." CNBC first reported the lawsuit.

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Levoff violated the duty of trust and confidence he owed Apple and its shareholders in two respects, the lawsuit says: "First, as head of the Corporate Law group at Apple, Levoff was responsible for ensuring compliance with the company's insider trading policy and determining the criteria for those employees (including himself) restricted from trading around quarterly earnings announcements. At the same time, as a member of Apple's Disclosure Committee, Levoff received material nonpublic information about Apple's financial results."

Apple has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment. 

According to the document, Levoff traded on the basis of insider information on at least three occasions in 2015 and 2016. In July 2015, for example, Levoff received material nonpublic financial data that showed Apple would miss analysts' third-quarter estimates for iPhone unit sales, the lawsuit says. Levoff is said to have profited and avoided losses of approximately $382,000 through illegal insider trading that took place in 2015-2016, according to the document.

See below for the full document: 

This story is developing...