An article summarized by NewsNation:
Federal prosecutors have charged 30 people, including lawyers, traders, and financial professionals, in a large insider trading scheme tied to stolen merger information from major law firms. Nineteen defendants have already been arrested, including corporate attorney Nicolo Nourafchan, who authorities say helped lead a decade-long operation that generated tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits.
According to indictments unsealed in Boston, Nourafchan and co-conspirator Robert Yadgarov allegedly accessed confidential law firm systems to obtain non-public information about pending mergers and acquisitions. They then passed that information to a network of traders and intermediaries in exchange for kickbacks, with some tips reportedly involving major deals such as Amazon’s proposed acquisition of iRobot in 2022.
Prosecutors say the scheme involved nearly 30 M&A transactions and operated like a cascading information chain, where traders would share tips further down the network to maximize profits. Some defendants are now in Russia and Israel and are considered fugitives, while others have already pleaded guilty. The case highlights a sophisticated breach of legal and corporate confidentiality, exploiting privileged access inside major law firms to trade ahead of market-moving announcements.
