In the summer of 2001, General Electric (GE) acquired Heller Financial.  Before the deal was publicly announced, Pequot Capital Management Arthur Samberg directed the purchase of “a little over a million shares” of Heller Financial stock and also directed Pequot to short shares of GE during the same time period. Just after the acquisition was announced, Samberg sold the Heller stock and covered the GE short position, resulting in approximately $18 million in profits over a period of a few weeks.

These trades set in motion an SEC insider trading investigation in 2003, but also a series of related, follow-on investigations that has grown to be truly beyond belief and which continues to this day.  In short, these trades have so far led to:

• an investigation by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
• an investigation by the SEC’s Inspector General of the investigation by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
• an investigation and 108-page report by the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees of the investigation by the SEC’s Inspector General of the investigation by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
• a complete re-investigation and 191-page report by the SEC’s Inspector General of the investigation by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
• a brief “re-re-investigation” and 15-page report by an SEC Initiating Official of the SEC’s Inspector General’s disciplinary recommendations flowing from his re-investigation of the investigation by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
• a new investigation commenced in December 2008 by the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees of reported new evidence emerging in the Pequot insider trading matter.
• an FBI investigation commenced in December 2008 based on the reported new evidence.

The excruciating chronology and details of these investigations are as follows:

November 2003: SEC’s Division of Enforcement opens informal inquiry into potential securities law violations by Pequot Capital Management,

September 2004: New SEC employee Gary Aguirre assigned to case.

January 2005: SEC issues formal order of investigation, issues subpoenas for documents and witness testimony.  Individual Pequot employees represented by six different law firms.

March 2005.  SEC issues a second subpoena for documents; “among over 90 that the SEC issued in the Pequot investigation.”

April-May 2005: Pequot begins producing approximately 80,000 electronic records and 300,000 pages per week to SEC, until a discovery dispute waylays production.

September 1, 2005: Aguirre fired.

October 2005: SEC’s Inspector General Walter Stachnik opens initial investigation regarding Aguirre’s claims that John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley, given preferential treatment in Pequot investigation.

November 2005: After interviewing six SEC employees, Stachnik investigation closed.

April 2006: Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees commence investigation into Aguirre’s allegations of lax enforcement in Pequot case.  Senate committees hold three separate hearings related to these matters in June, September and December 2006.  In addition, Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees interview and/or take testimony of at least 14 separate individuals.

July 2006: SEC’s Inspector General Stachnik reopens his investigation of alleged irregularities in Pequot investigation at request of Chairman Cox.

November 30, 2006. SEC’s Division of Enforcement closes its Pequot investigation, takes no action.

August 2007: Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees issue 108-page final report (with additional 599 pages of exhibits) finding that SEC’s IG Stachnik failed to conduct a serious, credible investigation of Aguirre’s claims.

August 2007: SEC IG Stachnik resigns.

December 2007: H. David Kotz named new SEC IG,

January 2008: Kotz personally takes over re-investigation of Aguirre/Pequot matter.  In connection with re-investigation, Kotz and his office:

• take Aguirre’s testimony on five seprate occasions and had telephone discussions with Aguirre on at least 13 other occasions
• interview 28 individuals with knowledge of Aguirre/Pequot matter
• take sworn testimony of 26 individuals
• review countless documents and emails from all key individuals

October 2008: IG Kotz issues 191-page report finding that there is evidence “rais[ing] serious questions about the impartiality and fairness” of the SEC’s investigation of possible insider trading at Pequot Capital Management, recommends disciplinary action against Enforcement officials.

November 2008: Initiating Official Brenda Murray, re-opens record, re-examines facts and solicits new statements from SEC Enforcement officials.  She then issues a 15-page report rejecting IG Kotz’s recommendations of discipline, and finds record does not support any disciplinary or performance-action.

December 2008: New evidence emerges that Pequot secretly began to pay $2.1 million to a key witness in the case in 2007. Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees asks Pequot’s chairman to provide records related to the payments, and the FBI is now reportedly looking into the matter.

Will this case and its investigations of investigations of investigations ever end?