Muhammad Saad Shoukat; Gyunho Kim; Muhammad Arham Shoukat; Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat; Izunna Okonkwo; Daniyal Khan

Opened at stage filed

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26458 / January 6, 2026 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Muhammad Saad Shoukat, et al., No. 2:25-cv-18864 (D.N.J. filed Dec. 22, 2025) SEC Charges Three Brothers with Allegedly Manipulating Two Pharma Company Stocks and Carrying Out a $41 Million Insider Trading Scheme with Three Friends The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three Pakistani and U.S. nationals Muhammad Saad Shoukat, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, and Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat, with allegedly perpetrating two market manipulation schemes, and along with three friends, carrying out a $41 million insider trading scheme. The complaint alleges that the Shoukat brothers manipulated the securities of Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. According to the complaint, in the scheme involving Olema, Saad and Arham Shoukat impersonated physicians to steal confidential information about Olema’s clinical trials and then stole the identities of metastatic breast cancer patients on online patient forums to publish falsified clinical trial results that increased Olema’s stock price. In the alleged scheme involving Opiant, the three Shoukat brothers purchased Opiant stock based on a tip that another company would soon acquire Opiant. When the acquisition stalled, they allegedly threatened Opiant leadership and issued a false press release that announced a fictitious partnership deal for Opiant’s lead drug candidate, increased Opiant’s stock price, and allowed the Shoukat brothers to sell their Opiant stock more profitably than they would have otherwise. The alleged insider trading scheme took place from at least June 2020 through February 2024, and involved the Shoukat brothers and three friends, Izunna Okonkwo, a U.S. and Nigerian national, Daniyal Khan, a U.K. national, and Justin Kim, a U.S. national. According to the complaint, Kim, an investment banker, tipped Saad Shoukat with material nonpublic information obtained from Kim’s firm about nine potential corporate acquisitions. As alleged, Saad Shoukat then tipped his brothers, Okonkwo, and Khan. The SEC alleges that the defendants’ and relief defendants’ combined profits from the scheme totaled approximately $41 million. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charges the Shoukat brothers with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, all defendants with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 thereunder, and all defendants except Khan for violating Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3 thereunder. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an injunction against Kim permanently prohibiting Kim from acting as or being associated with any broker, dealer, or investment adviser. The complaint also seeks disgorgement and prejudgment interest from Mishal Anwar and Gozie Okonkwo, relief defendants whose accounts were used to generate illicit profits. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced criminal charges against the Shoukat brothers, Kim, Okonkwo, and Khan. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Tracy Sivitz and supervised by Assunta Vivolo and Joseph Sansone, all of the Enforcement Division’s Market Abuse Unit. Assisting with the investigation were John Rymas and Darren Boerner of the Market Abuse Unit’s Analysis and Detection Center, Maxwell Clark, Ryan Erhard, Jason Lee, and William Young of the SEC’s Division of Economic and Research Analysis, Izabela Reis and Marianne Olson of the SEC’s Office of International Affairs, and James D’Avino of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Senior Trial Counsel Ben Kuruvilla and Ms. Sivitz and will be supervised by Jack Kaufman of the New York Regional Office and Ms. Vivolo. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and the Jersey Financial Services Commission. Resources <ul class="field