“Shortly after 6 a.m. EDT Wednesday, four FBI agents gathered in front of a building here in the upscale SoHo neighborhood where Samuel Waksal lives in a large duplex loft,” writes Geeta Anand in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“Two agents positioned themselves at the front door of the five-story, red-brick building, and two at the back door to block any escape attempt. Upstairs, still asleep in his pajamas, Dr. Waksal was awakened by a phone call from the agents, asking him to let them up.”

“Once inside the loft, the agents arrested Dr. Waksal, who recently resigned as chief executive officer of ImClone Systems Inc., on criminal charges of trying to sell ImClone stock and tipping off family members after learning that regulators would soon reject his company’s promising cancer drug.”

“The 54-year-old Dr. Waksal, who had given up an illustrious career as an immunologist to become a biotechnology entrepreneur, asked the agents not to handcuff him in front of his 28-year-old daughter, Aliza. Dr. Waksal was wearing the handcuffs when he left the building, after being allowed to change into street clothes.”

“Federal authorities charged that Dr. Waksal schemed with his father and other family members to dump ImClone stock based on inside information. In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. federal district court in Manhattan, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that Dr. Waksal learned on Dec. 26 that the Food and Drug Administration would refuse to review the application for the cancer drug Erbitux. The FBI also said he relayed that information to certain family members that night and early the following morning. The Securities and Exchange Commission made similar allegations in a civil complaint filed in the same court.”

“Dr. Waksal wouldn’t comment, but his lawyer, Mark Pomerantz, issued a brief statement in which he said Dr. Waksal would plead not guilty. ‘The evidence that underlies the criminal charges is circumstantial,’ Mr. Pomerantz said. “The government misread that evidence and it overreacted in deciding to” arrest Dr. Waksal.”

“Federal officials said they are still looking at “everyone” involved in ImClone trading who might be connected to Dr. Waksal. One investor under scrutiny: home-decor doyenne Martha Stewart, a close friend of Dr. Waksal who sold 3,928 shares of ImClone on the afternoon of Dec. 27, the day before ImClone announced the FDA’s rejection of the drug. ‘She sold a lot of shares right about the same time and she’s a friend of his,” a person familiar with the case said. “Anybody who didn’t look at it carefully would be derelict.’ “