According to the paper, Apple execs forged papers relating to executive stock options. The investigation is going high enough Steve Jobs has hired a layer. Or, as he calls it, an iLawyer. What Apple is accused of is "backdating" which is a when a company says the strike price of an option was when the price was low instead of when it really was. We have no idea how these things can be forged but we're thinking white out, lots and lots of white out.

Earlier, Apple had conducted an internal investigation which claimed that a couple of former officials had done something a little screwy with their options but were in the process of alleviating the mistake. The internal investigation also discovered that Jobs was kind of aware of what had happened but didn't understand the implications of what they had done. Somehow, we're not buying that story-- Jobs is a pretty bright guy.

Everyone involved, especially everyone involved at Apple, are saying that there's nothing to see here and to move along. Even the stock seems to have bounced back. Still, somewhere out there, the PC guy is smiling.