FBI Promises Crackdown on Stock-Option Fraud as Cases Increase

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The FBI is conducting probes of 52 companies that may have illegally backdated stock options and more cases are on the way, its new criminal investigative chief said.

The number of criminal cases has increased 16 percent in less than two months, said Chip Burrus, an assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ``We're going to knock that pretty good,'' he said in an interview. ``We're going to go after those.''