By: Tracie Carter
Federal authorities have charged six individuals in connection with a wide-ranging financial fraud scheme that involved insider trading and the manipulation of biopharmaceutical stocks, including a company developing a treatment for breast cancer.
According to prosecutors, the defendants used confidential, non-public information to trade stocks and enrich themselves, while also spreading falsified data and fake press releases to artificially inflate stock prices.
One part of the scheme focused on a biopharmaceutical company working on a breast cancer drug, where false data was circulated to make the treatment appear more effective than it was, driving up the company’s stock before shares were sold for profit.
Those charged include Muhammad Saad Shoukat and several relatives and associates, along with Gyunho Justin Kim, an investment banker accused of supplying inside information tied to pending mergers and acquisitions.
Authorities say the scheme spanned several years and generated tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits, harming everyday investors and undermining trust in the financial markets.
The case is being prosecuted by federal authorities with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.
The charges remain allegations, and the case will proceed through the federal court system.