The FBI Agent Who 'Flips' Insider-Trading Witnesses

For one suspect, the surprise visit came outside the gym just after his morning workout. Another person got a visit while eating at a Subway. For a third, it happened as he sipped wine on his front porch.

In each instance the visitor was David Makol, an FBI agent based in New York who specializes in "flipping" people, or persuading them to gather evidence against their closest friends or business allies. Mr. Makol also played a key role in Wednesday's arrests of four investment-fund analysts or traders, and charges against three more—the latest developments in a sweeping insider-trading investigation that ...

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