A trial starting this week over what prosecutors call the most lucrative insider trading scheme ever will likely delve into the trading activity of Steven A. Cohen, the founder of the SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund. Mathew Martoma, 39, is charged with using confidential information provided by two doctors involved in a clinical trial in 2008 to trade in drug companies Elan Corp Plc and Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer Inc. The trial is part of a crackdown on insider trading by federal prosecutors in New York. Since October 2009, 78 people have been convicted, either through plea deals or in an unbroken trial winning streak for prosecutors. Much of the investigation has centered on improper trading activities at SAC Capital, where eight current or former employees, including Martoma, have been criminally charged. In papers filed in court ahead of Martoma's trial, prosecutors charge that in 2008 SAC began selling off a $700 million position in Elan and Wyeth - mostly held in Cohen's
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