Options Scandal Update: Brooks Automation, Brocade, Clorox & Molex

Excerpt from our One Page Annotated Wall Street Journal Summary (receive it by email every morning by signing up here):

Molex Executives Agree to Repay Gains on Options

• Summary: These 4 companies show how not every option scandal is created equal:
  -Molex (MLX) CEO Martin Slark said that the person entering data in the option-plan administration system simply plugged the wrong date in, sometimes to the favor of the executive, and sometimes not. Molex executives are voluntarily paying $675,000 from their own pockets to correct the problem.
  - Clorox (CLX) said that it found "unintentional errors" in its option grants and is is taking a $25 million pretax charge. They found ""no evidence of fraud, falsification of records ... or intentional deviation from generally accepted accounting principles."
  - Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD) former CEO Gregory Reyes is trying to have federal charges against him dismissed. It is alleged that he tried to hide options-based compensation from shareholders, and that he manipulated the value of stock options awarded to employees.
  - An internal probe at Brooks Automation (BRKS) found that former CEO Robert Therrien reaped $millions by falsely signed a document that enabled him to exercise expired options. Therrian calls the claim "scurrilous, irresponsible and categorically false".
• Comment on related stocks/ETFs: While the problems raised at Molex & Clorox seem fairly mild, Jack Ciesielski has some very strong opinions on the shenanigans at Brocade & Brooks. Keep track of companies under investigation in the Options Scandal Scorecard