When inside trading heats up--and it does seem that it goes in cycles--it ensnares a diverse group of criminals. Sure, we always get the usual lawyers, brokers, company execs and the like. But we also get people we wouldn't expect, the the doctors and chemists swept in.

Recall the printers who got an advance look at Business Week way back when and tried to trade on the contents of Gene Marcial's column. Another interesting case concerns Donald Johnson, a senior executive at Nasdaq's so-called market intelligence desk. When companies wanted to know how corporate actions--such as news of a merger,dividend increase or drug trial--might affect stock trading, they went to him for answers. Little did they know he was using that information to allegedly make trades in an account in his wife's name, making $750,000.

Johnson pled guilty to insider trading this week and faces stubstantial jail time. This is an embarrassment for Nasdaq. For prosecutors, this is yet another example that insider trading is rampant. "The Department of Justice is watching you and we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law," is the message from prosecutors.

You get the feeling that they have more cases on tap. They seem to be salivating in the wake of the Raj Rajaratnam conviction.

For more:
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