SiliconBeat

Nancy Heinen (pictured), the former general counsel at Apple has agreed to pay $2.2 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties and be barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company for five years to settle complaints arising from the alleged backdating of Apple options, according to a release put out today by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In doing so, Heinen neither admitted or denied the Commission’s allegations.

According to the complaint, “Heinen caused Apple to fraudulently backdate two large options grants to senior executives of Apple — a February 2001 grant of 4.8 million options to Apple’s Executive Team and a December 2001 grant of 7.5 million options to Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs — and altered company records to conceal the fraud. The complaint alleges that as a result of the backdating Apple underreported its expenses by nearly $40 million.

Apple’s former chief financial officer at the time, Fred Anderson, earlier settled SEC charges — with no admission of guilt — by agreeing to pay a $150,000 fine and to give back $3.5 million related to a particular backdated grant.

Apple eventually restated its earnings by $84 million after taxes due to improper grants made from 1997 to 2002. While the company admitted that its chief executive, Steve Jobs, was aware of, and had recommended, some favorable grant dates but he neither benefited financially from them nor ”appreciated the accounting implications.”

In a separate administrative proceeding against her, Heinen also agreed to a suspension of her ability to appear or practice before the SEC as an attorney for three years.

Last month, a separate investigation into backdating by the Justice Department concluded that no criminal charges would be brought against Jobs or any other current or former Apple executives.