Samuel D Waksal

In June 2002, Samuel D. Waksal, CEO of the biopharma company he founded, ImClone Systems, Inc., was indicted on insider trading and fraud charges after attempting to sell some 80,000 shares of the company stock prior to a negative report on its anti-cancer drug, Erbitux, which was to be issued by the FDA. Waksal also allegedly tipped off friends and relatives with insider information, including Martha Stewart, whose daughter Alexis, he had reportedly been dating for a number of years. In October 2002, he pled guilty to six charges of bank fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury. In March 2003 he also pled guilty to additional charges of conspiracy and wire fraud related to sales of artwork he owned. Waksal was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison and ordered to pay some $4.3 million in restitution. He served out his sentence at the Otisville Federal Correctional Institute in New York.