By Kosi Tochukwu
Nigerian citizen, Izunna Okonkwo, has been indicted alongside five other suspects of different nationalities over an alleged $41 million stock market fraud in the United States.
According to a statement published on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) website on Sunday, Okonkwo and the other defendants are accused of engaging in insider trading between June 2020 and February 2024.
The DOJ said the six suspects were formally charged on Friday for their alleged roles in a years-long conspiracy involving the trading of securities based on material non-public information.
The other defendants were identified as Muhammad Saad Shoukat (33); his brothers, Muhammad Arham Shoukat (35) and Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat (36) all dual US-Pakistani citizens and their associate, Daniyal Khan (33), a dual UK-Pakistani citizen.
Explaining the scheme, the DOJ disclosed that a co-conspirator, identified as Kim, worked at an investment bank involved in several mergers and acquisitions of publicly traded healthcare and biopharmaceutical companies.
Kim allegedly obtained confidential information about at least nine pending deals and illegally shared it with Saad Shoukat, who traded on the information directly and through others.
“Saad Shoukat also tipped off others including Arham Shoukat, Shahwaiz Shoukat, Khan, and Okonkwo who similarly traded and profited from the material non-public information,” the statement said.
The DOJ estimated that the group made at least $41 million in illicit profits from the insider trading scheme.
The defendants were also accused of participating in what prosecutors described as the Olema Manipulation Scheme, involving Olema Pharmaceuticals, a company developing a breast cancer drug known as OP-1250.
According to the DOJ, after acquiring confidential data showing the drug was less effective than expected, the suspects allegedly falsified the data and publicly circulated it to make it appear authentic, temporarily inflating Olema’s stock price before selling off shares for profit.
They were further accused of manipulating the stock of Opiant Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on opioid overdose treatments.
The defendants face multiple charges, including insider trading, securities fraud, stock manipulation, and conspiracy, with potential maximum prison sentences ranging from 20 to 25 years per count if convicted.
Okonkwo is not the first Nigerian to face fraud-related charges in the United States. In December, US authorities ordered the deportation of a Nigerian, Oluwaseun Adekoya, after he completed a 20-year prison sentence for his role in a $2 million fraud scheme.
