A grand jury indicted Martha Stewart on federal charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice Wednesday in an insider stock trading scandal that could bring big fines or even a jail term for the home styles guru known for impeccable taste.
A 41-PAGE INDICTMENT also charged Stewart with conspiracy and making false statements. Stewart’s stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, a former Merrill Lynch broker, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, among other charges.
Stewart arrived at the federal courthouse in Manhattan just before noon, breezing past a crowd of reporters and camera crews without a word. About an hour later, the nine-count indictment was announced. Stewart and Bacanovic are expected to be arraigned this afternoon.
“Martha Stewart has done nothing wrong. The government is making her the subject of a criminal test case designed to further expand the already unrecognizable boundaries of the federal securities laws,” her lawyers, Robert G. Morvillo and John J. Tigue, said in a statement shortly after the indictments were handed up.
On Tuesday, Morvillo said Stewart planned to plead innocent and face trial.
The scandal surrounds Stewart’s sale of almost 4,000 shares of biotech drug maker ImClone Systems Inc. on Dec. 27, 2001 - the day before the government issued a disappointing report on ImClone, sending its stock price tumbling.
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/922014.asp
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=2&u=/ap/20030604/ap_on_bi_ge/martha_stewart
A 41-PAGE INDICTMENT also charged Stewart with conspiracy and making false statements. Stewart’s stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, a former Merrill Lynch broker, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, among other charges.
Stewart arrived at the federal courthouse in Manhattan just before noon, breezing past a crowd of reporters and camera crews without a word. About an hour later, the nine-count indictment was announced. Stewart and Bacanovic are expected to be arraigned this afternoon.
“Martha Stewart has done nothing wrong. The government is making her the subject of a criminal test case designed to further expand the already unrecognizable boundaries of the federal securities laws,” her lawyers, Robert G. Morvillo and John J. Tigue, said in a statement shortly after the indictments were handed up.
On Tuesday, Morvillo said Stewart planned to plead innocent and face trial.
The scandal surrounds Stewart’s sale of almost 4,000 shares of biotech drug maker ImClone Systems Inc. on Dec. 27, 2001 - the day before the government issued a disappointing report on ImClone, sending its stock price tumbling.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/922014.asp
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=2&u=/ap/20030604/ap_on_bi_ge/martha_stewart