WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said it had charged the former administrator of Wireless Facilities Inc.'s stock-options plan with fraud for transferring shares and options worth $7.7 million to himself and his wife.

Vencent Donlan, 44 years old, was charged with securities fraud in federal court in California.

The SEC said that between November 2002 and November 2003, he abused his position as the San Diego-based company's stock options administrator by issuing and transferring more than 728,000 company shares and options to a brokerage account that he held jointly with his wife, then exercised the options and sold the stock.

The SEC alleged that Donlan made false entries into the company's stock options software to create and then hide the unauthorized grant.

An attorney for Donlan couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Regulators said that some of the proceeds may also have been used to purchase real estate, including a home in San Diego for $942,000 in cash and property in Julian, Calif., for $655,000 in cash. They have won a court order freezing Donlan's assets.

Wireless Facilities provides engineering services to cell-phone carriers.