SEC charges 21, DOJ indicts 30 in decade-long insider-trading ring built on tips stolen from global law firms

The SEC announced on May 6, 2026 that it charged 21 individuals over a decade-long insider-trading scheme that allegedly relied on material nonpublic information misappropriated from multiple global law firms, generating millions of dollars in illicit profits between 2018 and 2024. The agency identifies Los Angeles-based mergers-and-acquisitions attorney Nicolo Nourafchan as the alleged orchestrator, working with Robert Yadgarov of Long Beach, New York. According to the complaint, Nourafchan misappropriated information from his firm's clients tied to more than a dozen pending corporate transactions, then he or Yadgarov tipped other participants who kicked back a portion of their trading gains or tipped still others who traded. The SEC's complaint, brought by the Division of Enforcement's Market Abuse Unit, was filed in the U.S.

District Court for the District of Massachusetts and seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. In a parallel criminal action announced the same day, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts charged 30 individuals; the 21 defendants named in the SEC's civil case are a subset of the 30 charged criminally by the Justice Department. The Justice Department said 19 of the defendants were arrested, while two described as being abroad in Russia and Israel were considered fugitives.

Independent reporting indicates the investigation drew assistance from the FBI, FINRA, and authorities in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Mauritius, and Switzerland. Legal commentators characterized the matter as a potential 'shot across the bow' for large law firms over information-barrier controls. The specific aggregate profit figure was not disclosed in the public materials reviewed; outlets reported only 'millions' and noted some participants earned six-figure profits on single deals, while the Justice Department described the scheme as netting tens of millions across nearly 30 merger-and-acquisition deals. The case reflects what the SEC and outside observers describe as a renewed, data-driven enforcement posture on insider trading.