Avant! entered pleas of "no contest" to conspiracy to misappropriate trade secrets, trade secret misappropriation, and securities fraud. In addition to paying $27 million, Avant! agreed to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the Court. The Court directed Avant! to place $10 million into escrow for possible payment in restitution.
CEO Gerry Hsu pleaded no contest to conspiracy to misappropriate trade secrets, failure to return stolen property, and securities fraud. Hsu agreed to pay a $2.7 million fine but escaped jail time. Avant! employee Stephen Wuu pleaded no contest to trade secret misappropriation and securities fraud, will pay $2.7 million, and faces between 16 and 24 months in prison. Mitsuru Igusa, a former Cadence employee, faces a $27,000 fine and a six-year prison term.
“Avant! believes that this agreement is in the best interests of the company, our shareholders, our employees, and customers” said Paul Lo, Chief Operating Officer of Avant!. “The company concluded that putting this matter to rest once and for all was the right thing to do. Avant! no longer sells the product that gave rise to this dispute, so this decision will have no impact on the company's current product line. We now look forward to resolving the remaining civil lawsuit with Cadence.”