Qualcomm executives sued

On Tuesday (February 2), a disenchanted investor filed a shareholder derivative suit charging that Qualcomm's top brass artificially inflated the company's earnings and then dumped their stocks. In a shareholder derivative suit, the shareholder sues on behalf of the corporation.

The main subjects of the suit are the alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Foreign Practices Act. The company is already being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice for overseas bribery to attain business. Qualcomm gets the bulk of its revenues from foreign countries. The suit says that earnings were overstated because the company did not report these alleged actions.

The suit notes that Steven Mollenkopf, chief executive, who raked in $60 million of compensation in 2014 — from November 6, 2014, to July 22, 2015 — dumped almost $8 million of stock and then continued selling.

Paul Jacobs, formerly chief executive of his father's company, was paid almost $57 million in 2014; he sold almost $26 million worth of stock during the same period. Fifteen other executives are charged with similar offenses.

Qualcomm has no comment on the suit.