The settlement marks the end of a legal debacle that began back in 2006, after an investigation by the Apple board uncovered some troubling options grants at the company. It also means that Jobs, who was likely to have been called to testify in Heinen’s SEC trial, won’t be. “This is it for backdating of stock options and Apple,” Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University, told the Los Angeles Times. “Steve Jobs dodged a bullet.”

The settlement marks the end of a legal debacle that began back in 2006, after an investigation by the Apple board uncovered some troubling options grants at the company. It also means that Jobs, who was likely to have been called to testify in Heinen’s SEC trial, won’t be. “This is it for backdating of stock options and Apple,” Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University, told the Los Angeles Times. “Steve Jobs dodged a bullet.”

Happy news for Apple, CEO Steve Jobs (shown above in mid-victory dance) and former Apple CFO Fred “It was you, Fredo” Anderson and former general counsel Nancy Heinen, who’ve all managed to dodge quite a legal bullet. Presumably it will be quite a bit more difficult for the civil suits filed against them to succeed with no criminal charges being filed.

Happy news for Apple, CEO Steve Jobs (shown above in mid-victory dance) and former Apple CFO Fred “It was you, Fredo” Anderson and former general counsel Nancy Heinen, who’ve all managed to dodge quite a legal bullet. Presumably it will be quite a bit more difficult for the civil suits filed against them to succeed with no criminal charges being filed.

On Wednesday, AAPL sold off on news that the company, CEO Steve Jobs, former CFO Fred Anderson, former general counsel Nancy Heinen and several Apple board members were hit with a purported class-action lawsuit in federal court in San Jose related to the company’s stock-options backdating scandal. Shareholder lawsuits always sound scary, but there’s nothing to this that holders don’t already know: the company admitted that some options were backdated, but both Apple and Jobs have avoided any federal prosecution. Anderson settled SEC charges related to the situation; litigation by the Commission against Heinen is pending.

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And that puts Jobs in an uncomfortable position. Because while Apple has cleared him of any wrongdoing, former Apple CFO Fred “It was you, Fredo” Anderson did try to implicate him in the scandal (Post continues after video … ).

Though Apple dismissed Anderson’s accusations as the ravings of a madman, they’re still not the sort of thing you want hanging over you when you’re testifying before an SEC panel. Because though the agency has said it will take no action against Apple, it hasn’t ruled out continued scrutiny of Jobs.

The truth of the matter is everything is fine. We’ve shared it all with the SEC. It’s raised questions, but some of the journalism has been so off the mark. But I know the truth. It’s painful to read some of this stuff, but I know it’s kind of ridiculous and will pass.”

– Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the New York Times, Jan. 12, 2007

Apparently, Fred Anderson is the “Fredo” of the Apple options backdating family. This morning Anderson, who resigned as Apple’s CFO in October of 2006, issued he advised Apple CEO Steve Jobs of the accounting implications that might arise from the backdating of stock-options grants in January 2001. This, of course, runs contrary to the party line at Apple, which has held, vehemently, that Jobs wasn’t aware of the accounting implications of backdating. From Anderson’s statement:

Fred was told by Steve Jobs in late January 2001 that Mr. Jobs had the agreement of the Board of Directors for the Executive Team grant on Jan. 2, 2001. At the time Mr. Jobs provided Fred this assurance, Fred cautioned Mr. Jobs that the Executive Team grant would have to be priced based on the date of the actual Board agreement or there could be an accounting charge. He further advised Mr. Jobs that the Board would have to confirm its prior approval in a legally satisfactory method. He was told by Mr. Jobs that the Board had given its prior approval and the Board would verify it. Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled.”

You can almost hear the shrieks of outrage from 1 Infinite Loop, can’t you?

Anderson’s statement hit the wires just after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Nancy Heinen, former general counsel at Apple, alleging her actions led to “fraudulent” stock-option backdating at the company (see “We Used an AirPort Extreme to Extend Steve’s “Reality Distortion Field” to SEC Headquarters“). Meanwhile, Anderson himself has agreed to a settlement with the SEC that calls for him to pay $3.5 million in fines and penalties, but does not require him to admit liability.