NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sam Waksal, the former CEO of ImClone Systems, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he and others profited from illegal insider information about his company.

Waksal was arraigned Monday morning on charges of obstruction of justice, bank fraud, securities fraud and perjury that were filed Thursday. Waksal pleaded not guilty to all charges.

After the arraignment, Waksal made a brief statement in which he defended the company he founded and the would-be blockbuster anti-cancer drug, Erbitux, that it's still trying to develop.

"I believe Erbitux has the potential to help millions of cancer patients," Waksal said. "ImClone itself is a solid company, whose scientists and employees have devoted themselves to achieving a noble goal."

Prosecutors say Waksal tried to sell ImClone stock after he learned that the Food and Drug Administration was going to refuse to consider ImClone's application for approval of Erbitux.

According to the indictment, Waksal secretly advised two people -- his daughter, Aliza, and his father, Jack, according to news accounts -- to sell ImClone shares on Dec. 27. ImClone (IMCL: Research, Estimates) stock plunged after the FDA's decision was announced Dec. 28, and has fallen 82 percent so far this year.

Investigators have also questioned the actions of Waksal's friend, home-decorating guru Martha Stewart, who sold thousands of shares just before the FDA's announcement.

Waksal's indictment claims he had more than $75 million in debt, more than $50 million of which was margin debt secured by ImClone shares. He knew that if the company's share price dropped substantially, stock secured by the margin debt would be sold, and his net worth would plummet, the case alleges.

Waksal also allegedly forged signatures and pledged ImClone securities that he no longer owned to obtain a $44 million loan from Bank of America.

The indictment also says Waksal directed people to shred documents at ImClone's offices in New York early this year as the SEC started investigating. Waksal also allegedly asked another person to destroy computer files and records pertaining to offshore accounts he maintained in Switzerland and the Netherlands, according to the indictment.

Waksal is just one of a growing number of corporate executives being paraded in handcuffs before TV cameras recently. Former Tyco International Ltd. CEO Dennis Kozlowski was recently arrested on charges of tax evasion, and members of the Rigas family, which founded bankrupt cable provider Adelphia Communications, have been arrested on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud.

Public confidence in corporate America was first shaken by the collapse of energy trader Enron Corp. and has continued to erode with a series of corporate accounting scandals. That led to a severe slump in U.S. stock prices, fears of an economic slowdown and a major legislative effort to reform corporate accounting.

Investigators also are eyeing Stewart after learning that she sold nearly 4,000 ImClone shares on Dec. 27.

Rep. Jim Greenwood, R-Pa., told CNNfn Monday that Stewart will meet Congress's Aug. 20 deadline to supply more information. Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked for Stewart's phone and e-mail records related to ImClone and her Merrill Lynch account as well as those of her business manager.

Martha Stewart's attorney said the domesticity diva will supply the information by Aug. 20, according to Greenwood.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee likely would subpoena Stewart for more information about her sale, Greenwood said Sunday. Congressional investigators have said Stewart and her attorneys have been reluctant to cooperate and have changed their story about her involvement in the matter.

Stewart has said she did no wrong in the sale, that she simply had a standing order to sell her stock when it went below $60. But doubt has been cast on that assertion because no evidence of an agreement with her Merrill Lynch broker, Peter Bacanovic, has been found.

Shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO: Research, Estimates), which have dropped 60 percent from their 52-week high of $20.93, rose more than 4 percent Monday. ImClone shares surged Monday, gaining more than 9 percent, to close at $8.02.