Former ArthroCare (NSDQ:ARTC) executive John Raffle pleaded not guilty this week to allegations that took part in a scheme to artificially inflate ARTC stock prices by misleading investors.
Raffle, the Austin, Texas-based company’s former senior VP of strategic business units, was accused of playing a part in a fraud scheme to boost ATRC shares ahead of quarterly earnings releases between 2006 and the first quarter of 2008.
Raffle and another ex-ArthroCare exec, David Applegate, were arrested last summer and charged by the U.S. Justice Dept. with wire fraud and making false statements in connection with the alleged scheme to artificially inflate ArthroCare’s share price by rigging its sales figures, according to court documents.
Earlier this month Applegate pleaded guilty to federal charges that he helped run a scheme that eventually defrauded investors in the medical device company of some $400 million. He pleaded guilty to 1 count of conspiracy to commit securities, mail & wire fraud and another count of making false statements, for regulatory filings made with the SEC containing faked quarterly and annual sales figures.
