Federal authorities said Thursday that former Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. chairman Henry Yuen is a fugitive after he was indicted on a felony obstruction charge that carries a possible five-year prison term.Yuen was convicted in federal court in 2006 of securities fraud for inflating Gemstar's revenue by $248 million to boost its stock price. Gemstar and its TV Guide channel listing service were acquired this month by Macrovision Solutions Corp. for $2.3 billion in cash and stock.

The indictment against Yuen, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, charges him with deleting documents and e-mails from his computer that the Securities and Exchange Commission sought in the earlier prosecution.



"I'll call him a fugitive," said U.S. Attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek. "We don't know where he is right now. And by now, he should be aware of the charges against him."

The U.S. Attorney directed those with information about Yuen's whereabouts to contact the FBI (web) .

Yuen's lawyer, David Scheper, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Yuen has failed to pay the $22.3 million in fines and penalties from his conviction in the Securities and Exchange Commission case. That judgment was affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April.

The court said the later revelation of the fraud caused the company to lose $3 billion in market value after it corrected its accounts.

The SEC has been unable to seize Yuen's assets and claimed in a previous court filing that he gave $42 million to third parties and moved substantial amounts of cash offshore in an attempt to evade seizures of his assets.

SEC senior trial counsel John Bulgozdy said he expected Yuen to pay eventually.

"We fully expect that now that the 9th Circuit has ruled that Mr. Yuen will honor the judgment," Bulgozdy said.

A spokesman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision Solutions Corp. declined to comment on the matter.

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