Vitesse Semiconductor Fires CEO, CFO During Stock-Options Probe

Vitesse Semiconductor, a Camarillo, Calif.-based producer of chips, fired its chief executive and chief financial officers during an ongoing investigation into whether company officials inaccurately dated stock options, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Louis R. Tomasetta, Vitesse’s CEO, Yatin Mody, CFO, and Eugene Hovanec, an executive vice president, were “terminated as officers and employees of Vitesse,” according to the Journal.

Last month, Vitesse suspended the three employees as it began its investigation into the possible stock-options fraud, the Journal reports. Vitesse then uncovered more accounting discrepancies that led the company to call into question three years’ worth of financial results, put off a quarterly report and contract a turnaround company, according to the Journal.

Acting Vitesse CEO Christopher Gardner is the company’s new chief executive, and Shawn C.A. Hassel, acting CFO, was officially named chief financial executive, the Journal reports. 

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