Observer – Last Thursday, when the government charged SAC Capital with perpetrating an insider-trading scheme from 1999 through 2010, the move answered a lot of questions people had been asking of late. The main one: given the fact that the Feds had yet to charge SAC\u2019s founder, Steven Cohen, with any crimes, was he going to get off scot-free while an ever-growing number of his henchmen were charged with\u2014and convicted for\u2014crimes committed under his watch? Was it the same old story, in which another of Wall Street\u2019s powerful avoids punishment for something he quite likely encouraged and most definitely profited from? The refreshing answer: not this time. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District, Preet Bharara, plays hardball, and he just threw a fastball right at Mr. Cohen\u2019s chin.<\/p>\n
Of course, the answer comes with a couple of caveats. For one, Mr. Cohen has not been personally charged with a crime. So he\u2019s not facing jail time, at least not yet. What\u2019s more, the firm has only been charged; there\u2019s no guarantee it will be convicted. And don\u2019t ask me if SAC (or Mr. Cohen) is guilty. I\u2019m no judge and jury, after all, and I\u2019m also wary of being sued. (For good reason. Conrad Black sued me in 2011 for calling him a thief when he\u2019s only a fraud in the eyes of the law.) But one thing is clear, and it is this: Mr. Bharara is aiming to destroy SAC Capital and, by extension, Mr. Cohen himself.<\/p>\n