The government answered the question "Who's next?" in stunning fashion when it indicted Rajat Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director, for insider trading. He certainly qualifies as a big fish.

You have to give credit to Preet Bharara's office for taking this on, given that the evidence does not seem nearly as compelling as with other trials. DealBook notes that the case will be an all new case for prosecutors, one that does not feature a lot of direct wiretap evidence--at least not any that has been made public.

"While it will be difficult to deny that he spoke with Mr. Rajratnam at crucial times, Mr. Gupta can defend himself against the charges by arguing that he was just telling a friend about corporate developments but never expected to benefit from it personally. In effect, he can try to throw Mr. Rajaratnam 'under the bus' by arguing that he was as much of a victim of insider trading because his trust was betrayed by a longtime friend."

One gets the feeling that Gupta will not settle this. Full vindication is likely his goal. So this is going to be an interesting trial. He would appear to be in good stead, if the case turns on circumstantial evidence. With that said, one defeat will not taint all the effort by prosecutors out of the southern district. It will not reverse previous victories. If they are defeated, however, people will likely argue they overreached with this last case. And that might bode ill for additional prosecutions.

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