What is it with insider trading? Why is there a spate of cases involving dirty trades and pillow talk?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has so far filed seven insider trading cases against married couples this year. All sorts of reasons have been offered but the most obvious one is that with the rise of two-income couples, more people have access to information.

So what's going on. It's not so much about married couples, it's more about special access to information, Clemson University professor Terry Leap told SmartMoney.

Maybe, but the trend continues with a former Goldman Sachs associate now charged with masterminding an insidious scheme that pocketed $6.7 million, reports the New York Times.

Only in this scheme, the former associate, Eugene Plotkin, wasn't using his girlfriend, an exotic dancer, to get the information. That was coming from a Merrill Lynch analyst; prepublication issues of BusinessWeek magazine; and tips from a grand jury investigation into Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The girlfriend was merely holding an account for some of the trades.

Plotkin has pleaded guilty to eight counts of insider trading and one count of conspiracy.

Most insider trading cases are intriguing. But this one really stands out.