And pretending like being charged with something is the same thing as being convicted is not deception? You flat out asserted, with no explanation: "Martha did not commit insider trading."
The allegations against Martha, made by the SEC, do amount to illegal insider trading. Therefore, your flat out assertion is still up for grabs. There is no "pretending she was charged with insider trading," she has IN FACT been charged, and the charge is pending in a civil court.
Exactly.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8130039.htm Posted on Sun, Mar. 07, 2004
Martha Stewart Still Faces Insider Trading Prosecution
By Andrew Caffrey, The Boston Globe Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 6 - Martha Stewart's troubles aren't over.
Even though Stewart faces jail for her conviction on federal criminal charges that she lied and obstructed justice, the home fashion executive also faces another prosecution on the core action that got her into so much trouble -- the December 2001 sale of ImClone Systems Inc. stock, which federal regulators said violated civil insider trading laws.
The US Securities and Exchanges Commission says Stewart, a former stockbroker herself, knew, or should have known, the hot tip about ImClone chief executive Samuel Waksal's stock sales that broker and fellow defendant Peter Bacanovic allegedly passed along to her was illegal inside information.
Stewart and Bacanovic weren't charged with illegal insider trading in the criminal trial because, many legal specialists have speculated, that aspect of the case was weakest. But the SEC's civil proceedings have a lower threshold of evidence than in a criminal proceeding, which these specialists said should make it easier for the government to prove those charges, especially since her defense already failed once before the jury in New York.
Currently the SEC case has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial, but yesterday the securities agency left no doubt it intends to pursue Stewart and Bacanovic once the stay is lifted by the federal court.
"Obstructing SEC investigations and lying to the government are serious crimes with serious consequences," SEC spokesman Herb Perone said yesterday.
Just be grateful that you temporarily got your pound of flesh, because it won't last long.