Court extends freeze on UnitedHealth ex-CEO assets

NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court on Wednesday maintained a freeze on stock options worth as much as $800 million awarded to William McGuire, former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

McGuire had asked the judge to dissolve an injunction freezing the assets, saying it would be "manifestly unjust" to bar him from cashing in on them.

The former chief executive had reached some settlements this month with litigators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which will require him to forfeit more than $400 million in options and other pay.

But Judge James Rosenbaum of the District Court of Minnesota ruled on Wednesday that the injunction on a remaining 24 million options should be maintained.

The plaintiffs in a securities class-action case against McGuire have said they want the injunction maintained until after their case is tried in July.

Rosenbaum said in his court order that words such as "huge," "fantastic," "astounding," "staggering," or "astronomical," do not describe the $1 billion that McGuire had originally been expected to receive.

"Such a sum can only be thought of as "transcendent," or in terms of the gross national product of smaller members of the United Nations," the judge said in his ruling.

McGuire left UnitedHealth after a special committee of its board found evidence of backdated options, a practice in which award dates are changed retroactively to make the options more valuable to recipients. The practice is not illegal, but needs to be properly disclosed and accounted for. (Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Braden Reddall)