| NBC in New York has learned officials at the Justice Department now believe they have enough evidence to arrest and charge Martha Stewart.
"We have a solid criminal case against Martha Stewart," one Justice Department official tells NewsChannel 4.
We're told that case includes evidence of insider trading and obstruction of justice. James Comey is the federal prosecutor in charge of the overall ImClone investigation.
"In terms of what we're looking at or who we're looking at ... I just can't comment," he said.
But sources tell NewsChannel 4 that a final decision is still two months away. We're told that Comey will make up his mind by Easter whether or not to file charges against Stewart.
Federal sources say that right now, they are zeroing in on Stewart's broker, Peter Bocanovic. They say their strategy is to first decide whether to charge Bocanovic with insider trading -- and if so, they will then see if he will cut a deal and cooperate against Stewart.
Stewart's high-powered legal team was set once again to visit prosecutors Tuesday, and again urge them not to file criminal charges. But NewsChannel 4 was told at the last minute that meeting was postponed. Stewart continues to deny any wrongdoing.
She's on the hot seat after dumping 4,000 shares of her ImClone stock, just one day before the price dropped dramatically. The Food and Drug Administration had rejected ImClone's cancer drug, and company CEO Sam Waksal was trying to dump his shares.
Waksal has already pleaded guilty, and he and Stewart both used Bokanovic as their broker.
Bokanovic's assistant, Douglas Faneuil, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with the ImClone scandal. He was back meeting with federal prosecutors just two weeks ago.
Faneuil could be a key witness because his job may have put him in a position to know whether inside information prompted the sale. | |
