Samuel D. Waksal

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Samuel D. Waksal (born September 8, 1947 in Paris, France) to Holocaust survivor parents, is an American immunologist and businessman, who founded the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems in 1984. He also served as ImClone's CEO.

Waksal earned a bachelor's degree in 1969 and a doctorate in immunobiology in 1974, both from The Ohio State University.

He was arrested June 12, 2002 on insider trading charges. On October 15, he pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and perjury.

On March 3, 2003 he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud for avoiding $1.2 million in sales taxes on $15 million in artwork. The art included works by Mark Rothko, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, and Willem de Kooning, purchased between June 2000 and October 2001. He did not pay the necessary taxes at the time of purchase, but did pay the taxes in fall 2002.

On June 10, 2003, Waksal was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison and ordered to pay more than $4 million in fines and back taxes, all the maximum punishments allowable under law. Waksal is not eligible for parole. He is currently serving time in Otisville Federal Correctional Institute in New York state as inmate number 53803-054.

He dated Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis for years.^[1]