DOJ charges 30 in global insider trading ring spanning three continents

US prosecutors unsealed criminal charges against 30 individuals on Wednesday in connection with a decade-long insider trading scheme that allegedly generated tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits by front-running approximately 30 merger and acquisition deals, the Department of Justice said.

The charges, filed in the District of Massachusetts and unsealed on 6 May, mark one of the largest insider trading sweeps by US authorities since 2016, when the DOJ and SEC began a coordinated crackdown that has now charged more than 100 individuals. Nineteen defendants were taken into custody in coordinated arrests across multiple states. Two remain at large, one in Russia and one in Israel. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil charges against 21 of the 30 defendants, seeking disgorgement, civil penalties, and industry bans.

“Our country’s financial markets and professional firms should be free from the rampant fraud and breaches of duty that these charges allege,” said US Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “The defendants took advantage of the special access and ethical duties that come with a law licence.”

How the scheme worked

At the centre of the alleged operation are two attorneys: Nicolo Nourafchan, 43, a Los Angeles-based M&A lawyer, and Robert Yadgarov, 45, of Long Beach, New York. Prosecutors allege the pair recruited attorneys and corporate insiders at several large law firms, including Goodwin Procter, Latham & Watkins, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, to leak confidential deal documents before public announcement, according to the indictment.

Nourafchan and Yadgarov then passed the information through a network of middlemen, including Gavryel Silverstein and Lorenzo Nourafchan, to traders who bought shares ahead of deal announcements and sold after the price rose. Cash kickbacks reached hundreds of thousands of dollars per transaction, prosecutors allege, and were routed through shell companies in Panama and Switzerland, often disguised as loans.

The defendants used encrypted messaging applications and coded language to evade detection, the FBI said. One transaction detailed in the charging documents involved the proposed acquisition of iRobot: Nourafchan allegedly took a leave of absence from his firm to view confidential documents related to the deal, which was later abandoned. Most of the 30 targeted transactions involve major public companies whose names remain under seal.

A former Willkie Farr & Gallagher attorney entered a Boston courthouse in February 2025 and began cooperating with prosecutors, Reuters reported, giving investigators an inside account of how deal documents were extracted from law firm networks and funnelled to traders. The cooperation helped prosecutors map the full chain from law firm access to trading account, according to people familiar with the probe.

What prosecutors are saying

“Everyone charged today is accused of scoring significant profits from expected market moves and making out like bandits,” said Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division. “That is not merely gaming the system. It is a federal crime.”

Joseph G. Sansone, chief of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit, said the case “highlights the SEC’s unwavering commitment to uncovering sprawling schemes, like the one alleged here.” The SEC complaint seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and industry bars that would permanently block defendants from working in securities markets.

The international angle

Seven defendants are from South Florida alone, spanning Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Sunny Isles Beach. Arraignments are expected in federal courts in Boston and Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

The international dimension complicates the prosecution. One defendant is believed to be in Russia, where extradition is unlikely under current geopolitical conditions. A second fugitive is in Israel, which has an extradition treaty with the US but a process that legal experts describe as rarely swift.

What is at stake

Each count of securities fraud carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. Nourafchan faces two additional counts of obstruction of justice. The scale of the indictment, 30 defendants across three continents and roughly 30 deals, shows prosecutors are targeting the full chain: attorneys who stole the information, middlemen who laundered the payments, and traders who executed the trades.

The FBI’s Docks framed the case as one about market fairness. “Anyone who engages in insider trading fundamentally undermines the trust necessary for our financial markets to function,” he said. “The FBI is committed to ensuring that those markets are a level playing field, not just profiting those with friends in the know.”

The case follows a multi-year enforcement pattern. Since 2016, the DOJ and SEC have charged more than 100 individuals in related insider trading rings, according to Crypto Briefing. The current indictment is the largest single sweep in that window by defendant count and shows prosecutors are more willing to pursue cases where the underlying conduct predates the pandemic.

The defendants face initial appearances in federal courts in Boston and Los Angeles over the coming weeks. The two fugitives remain the subject of active extradition requests, though US officials have acknowledged that securing their return is likely to be a prolonged process.