Insider Trading, Kickbacks Cut Deep: Firing Line

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Insider trading and kickbacks. Two recent high-profile cases have exposed the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that occurs in the volatile and cut-throat world known as business.

The Galleon insider-trading case is slowly expanding after already ensnaring executives from IBM (IBM Quote) and Google (GOOG Quote), while yesterday New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo leveled antitrust charges against Intel (INTC Quote) alleging unfair trade practices. This isn't the first time Intel has faced charges of heavy-handed tactics. The company is fighting a $1.5 billion ruling against it by the European Commission and is going on year four in a lawsuit filed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD Quote).

The timing of Cuomo's filing is interesting, considering the feds have been building a case against Intel behind the scenes, and states usually take a back seat to Uncle Sam. I'm sure Mr. Cuomo's potential run for governor/senator/president/fill in the blank had nothing to do with it.

We will have to wait and see all of the evidence against Intel, but the initial indications are not flattering. Email exchanges between the CEOs of Dell (DELL Quote) and Intel read something like a scene from The Soprano's:

Michael Dell: We're getting hammered by only using your product. We're losing business.
Paul Otellni: The "cannolis" we've been giving you over the past couple years should more than make up for any inconvenience...
As Dell leaves the BaDa Bing, Otellni remarks to Paulie:
"That guy's the best friend money can buy."

It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. On one hand, it appears that Intel is doing whatever it can to grow the business, gain market share and deliver to the shareholders. That's exactly what it's supposed to do. After tumbling down the runway like Steve Austin to $12 a share in March, the stock hit over $21 in October.