Monday, December 22, 2025 - A dual US-Nigerian citizen, Izunna Okonkwo, has been indicted alongside five other individuals of different nationalities over an alleged $41m stock market fraud in the United States.
According to Punch, Okonkwo and the other defendants
allegedly engaged in insider trading between June 2020 and February 2024.
The statement added that the six suspects were charged on
Friday for their participation in a years-long scheme to trade securities based
on material non-public information.
The statement identified the other defendants as Muhammad
Saad Shoukat, 33; his brothers, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, 35, and Muhammad
Shahwaiz Shoukat, 36 — all dual US-Pakistani citizens — and his friend, Daniyal
Khan, 33, a dual UK-Pakistani citizen.
Explaining the insider trading scheme, the statement noted,
“Kim worked at an investment bank that was actively involved in multiple
mergers and acquisitions of publicly traded healthcare and biopharmaceutical
companies.
“Kim obtained material non-public information about many of
these pending deals, either by working on the deals directly or from others who
did.
“Kim illegally shared the information about at least nine of
these deals with Saad Shoukat, who traded on that information by himself 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. Overall, Saad Shoukat and his
co-conspirators received illicit profits from the insider trading scheme
totalling at least $41m.”
The statement further alleged that the defendants engaged in
what it described as the Olema Manipulation Scheme, adding that “Saad Shoukat,
Arham Shoukat, and others actively manipulated the stock price of Olema, a
publicly traded company focused on developing breast cancer treatment through a
drug called OP-1250.
“From the spring of 2021, Saad Shoukat and Arham Shoukat
began investing in Olema stock and encouraged others to invest in it.
“After purchasing substantial stock in Olema, Saad Shoukat,
Arham Shoukat, and others accessed confidential information showing that
OP-1250 was less effective than they had hoped.
“They then falsified the OP-1250 data that the
co-conspirators had illegally accessed and publicly disseminated it in a manner
that made it appear authentic and as though it originated from Olema.
“The release of the false data—which inflated the drug’s
perceived efficacy—temporarily caused Olema’s stock price to rise, during which
Saad Shoukat, Arham Shoukat, and others profited and avoided losses by selling
large volumes of Olema shares.”
They were also alleged to have manipulated the stock price
of Opiant, another publicly traded company involved in the development of
opioid overdose treatment.
The statement added that the defendants were charged with
offences bordering on stock manipulation, conspiracy, and insider trading,
among others, noting that they face maximum prison sentences ranging from 20 to
25 years on each count if convicted.
Okonkwo is not the first Nigerian to be indicted for
fraud-related allegations in the United States.
On December 4 that the US ordered the
deportation of a Nigerian, Oluwaseun Adekoya, upon completion of a 20-year
prison sentence for his role in a $2m fraud scheme.
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