Story perspectives

Insider-Trading Scheme Exposes 30 Lawyers, Witness Cooperates

5/8/2026

Summary

Gershowitz Cooperates

Gabriel Gershowitz agreed to cooperate as a witness in an insider-trading case involving tips on about 30 pending mergers.
Corporate lawyer Nicolo Nourafchan and personal-injury lawyer Robert Yadgarov ran the scheme and were arrested with 28 others, totaling thirty charged.
Gabriel Gershowitz pleaded guilty, will forfeit $37,000, and prosecutors recommended prison, noting the scheme used confidential M&A data from 2019-2024.

Summary

Law Firms Condemn

The indictment says two conspirators remain fugitives, one in Russia and one in Israel.
Goodwin Procter and Latham & Watkins condemned the misconduct and pledged cooperation with authorities.
The ring moved money through shell companies, disguised kickbacks as “business loans,” and used accounts in Switzerland, Panama and the British Virgin Islands.
Investigators reported coded terms like “rabbi,” “doctor,” “coffee,” and “flights,” plus burner phones, encrypted apps, and meetings with devices off.

Summary

FBI Indicts

The FBI indictment says the scheme earned tens of millions illicitly, led to 19 arrests and set dates in Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale and New York.
It cites Cigna’s $54 billion Express Scripts purchase, Johnson & Johnson’s $30 billion Actelion takeover and Amazon’s failed $1.4 billion iRobot bid.
Prosecutors say a 30-person network of attorneys, personal-injury lawyers and traders used Panama-Swiss shell companies to hide proceeds, while two suspects flee in Russia and Israel.

History

Historical Context

Enron’s 2001 collapse, culminating in a Dec. 2 bankruptcy that erased $74 billion in market value, spurred the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act and heightened SEC scrutiny of complex financial networks. That legacy informs today’s 2024 FBI crackdown on an insider-trading ring involving Goodwin Procter lawyers Nicolo Nourafchan and Robert Yadgarov, whose scheme moved tens of millions through offshore shells.

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Gershowitz Cooperates

Gabriel Gershowitz agreed to cooperate as a witness in an insider-trading case involving tips on about 30 pending mergers.
Corporate lawyer Nicolo Nourafchan and personal-injury lawyer Robert Yadgarov ran the scheme and were arrested with 28 others, totaling thirty charged.
Gabriel Gershowitz pleaded guilty, will forfeit $37,000, and prosecutors recommended prison, noting the scheme used confidential M&A data from 2019-2024.

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