 Mr Waksal still awaits a jail term |
Samuel Waksal, founder of US biotech firm ImClone, has agreed to an $800,000 fine and a permanent ban on running any public company as part of a settlement over an insider trading scandal. The agreement is a partial settlement of civil charges filed against Mr Waksal by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr Waksal, who has admitted securities fraud, is still likely to be sentenced to as much as 75 years in prison.
He has also confessed to conspiring with an art dealer to dodge $1.2m in tax on paintings he bought two years ago.
The ImClone case has hit the headlines in the US because of the close relationship between Mr Waksal and Martha Stewart, a media lifestyle guru who was once one of the darlings of the stock market.
Insider allegations
Ms Stewart came under suspicion after selling ImClone shares worth about $228,000, just before a US Government announcement that it would not review the biotech company's application for a cancer drug.
Ms Stewart has denied insider trading, insisting that she had pre-arranged a sale price for the ImClone shares.
The SEC accused Mr Waksal of hearing about the government ruling in advance, and warning relatives to sell ImClone shares.
Mr Waksal's guilty plea was engineered to omit conspiracy charges that might have implicated any family members in securities fraud.
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