Apollo Group Receives Subpoena Over Options

NEW YORK -- Apollo Group Inc., a for-profit education company whose schools include the University of Phoenix, said Monday that it had received a subpoena from the United States attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, related to stock option grants, Bloomberg News reported.

Apollo Group, which is based in Phoenix, said it would cooperate with the request. Last week, the company said it had hired an independent firm to review its stock option grants from 2000 to 2004, after a report from Lehman Brothers questioned Apollo's practices, Bloomberg News reported.

Also Monday, The Associated Press reported that the Delta Petroleum Corp., a natural gas and oil producer based in Denver, said that it had received a subpoena from the same United States attorney's office, requesting records back to 1996 over its granting of stock options.

The company said it believed the request occurred because it was identified May 16 in a "third-party report" as being at risk for having backdated stock options for executives. On May 22, the company said its board had formed a special committee to review Delta's option-granting practices and related accounting, the AP reported.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 6/20/06