In August 2014, former SAC Capital trader Mathew Martoma was ordered by U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe to serve nine years in prison and also to forfeit about $9.4 million in ill-gotten gains. In February 2014, a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Martoma on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy related to an insider trading scheme.

Martoma will begin serving his prison term next month, but his wife, Rosemary Martoma, is now challenging the $9.4 million forfeiture order. This week Rosemary Martoma asked the court to allow her to keep her share of the couple's assets--including a $2.2 million home in Boca Raton, Florida and approximately $4.5 million in cash.

The Martomas' Florida home was specifically included in Judge Paul Gardephe's forfeiture order, Bloomberg reports. Florida property law may provide Rosemary Martoma with an argument to keep the house, however. Miami attorney Neal Sonnett told Reuters that Florida property law would allow Rosemary Martoma to claim a share in the house that is equal to her husband's. The article adds that Florida's constitution "says a resident's primary home cannot be seized in civil judgments, a law that adds an extra barrier to forfeiture even in a criminal case."

Rosemary Martoma also argued to the court that she should be able to keep over $4 million in cash. She “agreed to give up her career, and care for the household and children, based on the promise that she would have equal, joint ownership of all income derived from the defendant’s work outside of the household,” she stated. Michael Bowe, a partner with law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, told the New York Post that this argument was not likely to succeed. “If one spouse steals money, the other spouse doesn’t get to keep it just because she quit work,” Bowe said.  

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