Thirty Charged in Global Insider Trading Ring That Stole Secrets on Nearly 30 Deals
On May 6, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, announced the unsealing of charges against 30 defendants accused of taking part in a decade-long insider trading ring that stole confidential information on nearly 30 merger and acquisition deals from several of the nation's premier law firms and netted tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits.
Prosecutors said 19 defendants were arrested that day in places including Los Angeles, California, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and New York, while two defendants in Russia and Israel are considered fugitives. The first indictment names 16 defendants and centers in part on Nicolo Nourafchan, 43, a Los Angeles corporate attorney. Prosecutors allege that while working at several large law firms he accessed internal systems to view confidential documents on deals he did not work on, then supplied the nonpublic information to a trading network in exchange for kickbacks of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A second indictment names five more defendants, including his brother Lorenzo Nourafchan, and charges against nine other defendants were also unsealed.
As one example, the indictment alleges that in June 2022, while on a leave of absence, Nourafchan viewed confidential materials on a potential acquisition of iRobot, after which an associate bought iRobot securities. Prosecutors say the ring used burner phones, encrypted applications and coded language, and moved proceeds through shell company and foreign brokerage accounts. The charges include securities fraud conspiracy, securities fraud and money laundering conspiracy; the securities fraud conspiracy charge carries up to 25 years in prison. The Justice Department said the Securities and Exchange Commission provided valuable assistance. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于波士顿的 John Joseph Moakley 联邦法院（资料照片），本案由联邦检察官马萨诸塞区办公室在波士顿起诉。Beyond My Ken 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston (file photo); the case was charged in Boston by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. Photo by Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
