Elite corporate lawyers accused of earning millions on decades-long insider trading plead not guilty🙈
Fifteen people, including a lawyer who worked at several major law firms, pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges alleging a decade-long insider trading scheme in which attorneys passed tips about nearly 30 pending mergers.
Nicolo Nourafchan, formerly of Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins, and Goodwin Procter, appeared in federal court in Boston along with other defendants to enter not guilty pleas to securities fraud and related charges. In total, 30 people have been charged in the scheme, which prosecutors say generated tens of millions of dollars and was led by Nourafchan and personal injury lawyer Robert Yadgarov.
Yadgarov also pleaded not guilty, as did Nourafchan’s brother, Lorenzo, founder of a fractional CFO and accounting firm. Lorenzo is paying Nicolo Nourafchan’s legal fees under an arrangement the judge said could create a conflict of interest. “You may have different interests as this goes on,” US Magistrate Judge Judith Dein warned.
Martin Weinberg, Nicolo Nourafchan’s lawyer, said in a statement that his client “asserted his innocence to each allegation at his arraignment today and we intend a vigorous and compelling defense.”
Authorities say the scheme began in 2014, shortly after Nourafchan graduated from Yale Law School and joined Sidley Austin. Prosecutors allege he tipped Yadgarov and others to upcoming corporate deals while working at multiple firms, in exchange for kickbacks tied to trading profits. They also say he and Yadgarov recruited other attorneys, including one at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and another at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
That latter attorney, Gabriel Gershowitz, pleaded guilty last year and is now cooperating…. Guilty pleas from eight others dating to 2024 were unsealed when the case was announced on May 6.
Prosecutors also allege coded language was used in discussions, including references like “flight to Israel” and “rabbi.” Many defendants are Jewish.
Among them is Joseph Suskind, a Florida insurance adjuster accused of trading in 2022 on tips about SailPoint’s acquisition by Thoma Bravo and iRobot’s failed sale to Amazon.
Defense attorney Michael Kendall said, “Evidence is more important than press releases,” adding, “We look forward to the trial.”
