Ex-SAC exec Mathew Martoma leaves court with his wife Rosemary yesterday after pleading not guilty to charges tied to what feds call the most lucrative insider-trading scheme ever. (Brigitte Stelzer)
Hedge-fund titan Steve Cohen must be breathing a little easier.
Six weeks after Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, was arrested by FBI agents and charged with insider trading, the mid-level exec is still set against cooperating with prosecutors.
Martoma’s lawyer said as much yesterday when asked by reporters if the 38-year-old trader was seeking a plea deal.
“No,” he said.
The FBI has been trying to flip Martoma since he was arrested outside his Boca Raton, Fla., estate on Nov. 20.
Flanked yesterday by his pediatrician wife, Rosemary, Martoma pleaded not guilty to charges he profited in the most lucrative insider-trading case ever.
Despite the cold temperatures, Martoma was dressed simply in grey slacks and a brown tweed jacket.
Rosemary, holding tight to her husband’s hand, sported an ivory silk blouse, lace skirt and knee-high black suede boots with stiletto heels.
Martoma made profits and avoided losses totaling $276 million on trades involving two pharmaceutical stocks — Elan Corp. and Wyeth — between 2006 and 2008, it is charged.
The feds noted Martoma made a 20-minute call to Cohen regarding the trades.
Cohen, who has not been charged with any crime or civil violation, is one of the wealthiest hedgies— and is also the subject of a federal probe that has fascinated Wall Street for more than two years.
SAC and Cohen, through a spokesman, have said they acted “appropriately.”