Martha Stewart, the founder and former chairman and chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, was indicted on June 4th, 2003 on five counts of conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice and securities fraud. In my opinion, the federal government decided not to charge Martha with insider trading for what may be lack of hard evidence. Martha has pleaded not guilty. .
These charges stem from the fact that Martha Stewart is a close friend of Mr. Sam Waksal, the founder and former chief executive officer of Imclone Systems. Mr. Waksal pled guilty and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for insider trading related charges and tax evasion. Martha Stewart and Sam Waksal & family also shared the same stockbroker at Merrill Lynch. .
Mr. Waksal admitted to calling his daughter and letting her know that the Food & Drug Administration was going to announce that it would not review Imclone's application for Erbitux (cancer drug). In addition, he admitted to selling shares of his company's stock in his daughters name for his own profit. The news sent Imclone's shares plummeting. Coincidently, Martha Stewart sold 4,000 shares of Imclone the day before the announcement and has claimed that she put in a verbal stop order if the stock fell below $60 per share. The federal government faced a very difficult task in proving the insider trading charges and thus decided not to charge her. .
Martha Stewart is a celebrity and has single handedly built the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia empire from scratch, but despite her successes and accomplishments she should be held accountable for any wrongdoings. In the eyes of many, she has already paid a hefty price through the expense of attorneys, depressed stock price, and resignation as chief executive officer of her empire. It is an unfortunate thing to be made an example of for the benefit of the American people, but it happens.