UPDATE 1-Ex-Gemstar CEO Yuen charged with obstructing US probe

(Adds that FBI seeking Yuen, paragraph 3; legal background)

LOS ANGELES, May 13 (Reuters) - Henry Yuen, the former chairman and chief executive of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc GMSTF.D, was indicted on Tuesday on a felony charge of obstructing an SEC investigation of the company's accounting practices, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said.

Yuen, whose whereabouts are unknown, is accused of deleting material from computer emails and corporate documents that he had been asked to produce by Securities and Exchange Commission investigators in connection with a formal investigation that began in 2002, prosecutors said.

In a press release, prosecutors asked anyone with information about where Yuen is to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The SEC sued Yuen in 2003 on charges of violating federal securities laws, and he was found guilty on all claims and forced to pay more than $22 million in penalties.

Last month, the SEC successfully petitioned a federal court to stop payment of a previously frozen $29.5 million severance package to Yuen, prosecutors said.

Yuen had agreed in 2005 to plead guilty to obstructing the SEC investigation under a plea agreement with prosecutors that called for a sentence of six months' home detention and probation and required him to pay more than $1 million to charity.

But a judge rejected that deal in 2006, finding the sentence too lenient.

If convicted of the charges at a trial, Yuen could face a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. (Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Gary Hill)