An Indiana couple has found themselves in deep legal water as the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., charged them with allegedly engaging in an insider trading scheme, according to an official statement. Fan Yang and Jing Tian, both from Indianapolis, are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, allegedly using hidden knowledge to profit from a pending corporate acquisition.
According to the circumstances of the case, Yang, a finance executive, and her husband, Tian, began gathering the non-public knowledge in late 2021 while their unnamed firm was in takeover talks with a Michigan-based automotive component manufacturer. After the acquisition was announced on February 22, 2022, for a substantial $3.7 billion, the target company’s stock increased by nearly 44%, lining the pockets of those with access to such confidential information, allegedly including the charged couple and a select group of associates that included two Georgetown University students and an overseas trader.
“We’ve got over 100,000 in there. If the deal is completed for 3.5 billion, we can acquire a Tesla. “Trade in and don’t need a loan haha,” Yang allegedly boasted in a WeChat conversation with Tian, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. On another exchange, Yang firmly informed another trader of a certain stock’s gain as a result of the upcoming acquisition; this suggestion of foresight has become a cornerstone of the case.
The investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, seeks to uncover the full scope of the alleged insider trading network, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rami Sibay at the helm as allegations of sophisticated, clandestine profit-making come under federal scrutiny.
While the indictment is just a collection of charges, the court processes will establish the couple’s guilt, reminding us that in the United States legal system, all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Leave a Comment