Hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen, founder and chairman of SAC Capital Advisors, listens to a question during a one-on-one interview session at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas on May 11, 2011.
Steven A. Cohen is a legendary Wall Street trader who amassed a $9 billion fortune while building a reputation as one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation. For years, SAC Capital consistently delivered returns of 30% or more to its clients. This week, one of Cohen’s former traders, Mathew Martoma, goes on trial in what the feds call the most lucrative insider trading scheme in U.S. history.
On Tuesday, the PBS investigative program FRONTLINE will air a film based on months of reporting about SAC and Cohen. FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith and his team — the same journalists responsible for the acclaimed documentary Money, Power and Wall Street — are back with a new film. To Catch a Trader is about SAC Capital and the culture of Wall Street hedge fund wheeling-and-dealing that most Americans don’t know about. FRONTLINE was kind enough to allow TIME to post a preview clip of their film.
(MORE: Inside the Biggest Insider Trading Case in American History)
Martoma’s prosecution is part of multi-year federal investigation into SAC Capital. Federal prosecutors had hoped Martoma would cooperate in the government’s investigation of Cohem, but thus far the former trader has refused. Last November, SAC agreed to settle federal fraud charges by paying $1.8 billion and pleading guilty to fraud charges. SAC Capital, as a money management firm, is over, save for manaaging Cohen’s remaining billions. Cohen has not been charged criminally, but he faces civil charges for failing to supervise Martoma and and another former SAC trader, Michael Steinberg, who was convicted last month.