Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison has been accused of destroying evidence that could have been used by his prosecutors in court.

The evidence relates to allegations that Ellison had knowingly misled investors on the firm's profitability in 2000 to 2001, according to reports.

Oracle shareholders began legal proceedings against Ellison in March 2001, alleging that he had made false statements when disclosing the company's 2001 second-quarter financial results.

Prosecutors claim that Ellison was aware of the company's financial problems and deliberately sold $900m (£506m) worth of company stock before he disclosed the problems publicly.

US District Judge Susan Illston ruled this week that she will seriously consider Ellison's alleged deletion of evidence during the final trial of the case scheduled for March 2009.

Judge Illston accused Ellison of deleting his own emails as well as a journalist's tape recordings.

The evidence would allegedly have shown that Ellison understood the scale of Oracle's financial difficulties in 2000 to 2001, and the problems inherent in Oracle's Suite 11i business management software, she said.

Journalist Matthew Symonds had been writing a book called Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle, and had agreed to produce it under contract.

This gave Ellison legal control over the reporting, according to the San José Mercury News.

Oracle is offering no further comment on the ruling at this time.