Berkshire-Heinz Deal In Trouble

When two industry juggernauts such as Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKA)(NYSE:BRKB) and H.J. Heinz (NYSE:HNZ) announce that an acquisition will take place, it is a sure bet that it will send the markets into a bustle of activity. And, following the release that Berkshire was purchasing Heinz for a tidy sum of $23 billion (3G Capital was also in on the deal), this is just what happened.

Following the announcement last Wednesday, Heinz shares surged 20 percent during regular trading on Thursday, as investors clamored for a piece of the pie. But what if the pie was already half finished before they even heard the oven timer go off?

That is exactly what the FBI and SEC are looking into. Reportedly, $90,000 of call options were purchased the day prior to the announcement — by the time trading was closed on Thursday, the same $90,000 was worth $1.8 million, the Boston Globe reports. Perhaps more suspiciously, the money was secured in a Swiss Goldman Sachs account in Zurich, an account that the SEC has frozen pending the outcome of the investigation…