I'm not sure why it matters that much which day options were granted on that it is worth putting people in jail for. The company has right to compensate their workers any way they like. Including giving options for free or for any price they see fit, and doing that any day at any time. Of course, our tax code being as weird and byzantine as it is, that may mean that some ways of giving options may end up in people paying less tax than other ways, and thus we have even more complex and byzantine system of laws that prevent people from taking advantage of it. But I see it as a deficiency of the tax code, which allows you to pay different depending on the various tricks and loopholes.
Now, the part where backdating is hidden from the people who have to have control over the matters - like shareholders - is another matter. That is violation of trust, embezzling and fraud. But I see no sign of it in the story we were told - I see no sign that the dating that was proposed were to be hidden from workers or shareholders.
Now, the part where backdating is hidden from the people who have to have control over the matters - like shareholders - is another matter. That is violation of trust, embezzling and fraud. But I see no sign of it in the story we were told - I see no sign that the dating that was proposed were to be hidden from workers or shareholders.