Fan Yang and Jing Tian, residents of Indianapolis, have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The indictment was unsealed in Washington, D.C., as announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Yang, also known as Jocelyn Yang, worked as a finance executive at an Indiana manufacturing company where her husband Tian was also employed. According to the indictment, in 2021 the company began internal discussions about acquiring a Michigan-based automobile components firm. On February 22, 2022, the acquisition agreement was made public at $36.50 per share for a total value of $3.7 billion. Following this announcement, the target company’s stock price increased by approximately 44% from the previous day’s closing price.
The charging document alleges that Yang obtained material non-public information (MNPI) about the acquisition starting in October 2021 and began discussing security purchases with Tian in November 2021. The couple allegedly communicated in Chinese on messaging apps and shared MNPI with at least five others, including two Georgetown University graduate students and a trader based in China.
According to the indictment, members of this group used inside information to buy stock and options contracts in the target company before news of the acquisition became public. On November 22, 2021, Yang reportedly messaged Tian on WeChat: “We have over 100,000 in there. If the acquisition is completed with 3.5b, we can get a Tesla. Trade in and don’t need a loan haha.” In further messages to another trader, Yang indicated she knew the stock would rise due to her company’s planned acquisition—information not yet available to the public.
When details of the corporate deal were released publicly, those involved reportedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.
The investigation is being led by the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rosenberg and Special Assistant United States Attorney Rami Sibay are prosecuting the case.
“An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” according to authorities.
