Federal officials have charged Broadcom Corp. co-founders Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli with falsifying the company’s reported income by illegally backdating stock options for five years.

A criminal complaint filed Wednesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission also charges former chief financial officer William J. Ruehle and general counsel David Dull.

The four men are accused of violating federal securities laws by misrepresenting the dates on which stock options were granted to its executives and employees.

The Irvine-based communications chip maker agreed last month to pay $12 million to settle similar charges without admitting or denying the allegations.