UnitedHealth said that its former chief executive officer, William McGuire, has agreed to return $600 million to settle civil and criminal claims related to his role in backdating options between 1994 and 2002.

Other current and former employees will pay $300 million to settle investor lawsuits relating to the backdating.

The company arranged for an independent committee to investigate the charges and negotiate the settlement on behalf of UnitedHealth. The committee included two former state Supreme Court justices from Minnesota, where UnitedHealth is based.

McGuire was forced to resign from his post just over a year ago, after evidence emerged of his role in setting pricing dates for his stock options. The company was forced to restate its earnings going back to 1994, reducing them by $1.53 billion.

The settlement must still be approved by a judge. Most of McGuire's settlement money will be in the form of outstanding options that the committee values at $320 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced its civil settlement with McGuire today. Under the terms of its settlement, McGuire will pay $11 million in ill-gotten gains along with a $7 million penalty.

"Whenever a corporate officer misleads investors about a company's performance by secretly backdating stock options, the integrity of our markets is undermined," S.E.C. chairman Christopher Cox said in a statement. "As demonstrated in this case, the S.E.C. is committed to holding corporate officers accountable for illegally backdating stock options and will seek the return of undeserved compensation."

The S.E.C. is continuing its investigation into the backdating at UnitedHealth.

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