On November 18, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts unsealed a superseding indictment that charged Eamma Safi, a citizen of Germany and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”); Zhi “Josh” Ge, a citizen of Singapore; and six other foreign nationals for their alleged roles in an international insider trading network. The six foreign nationals charged in the scheme were identified as Samy Fadi Khouadja of the UAE; Christophe Dong of France; Julien Liu of France and Hong Kong; Patrick Chou of France and Hong Kong; Cheuk Yue Lee or Hong Kong; and Dev Ananth Durai of Singapore. All of the defendants have been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy for their involvement in a scheme that allegedly generated tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits.
In March 2025, federal prosecutors unsealed the original indictment, which was filed in July 2024, that charged only Safi and Ge for their roles in a scheme in which they allegedly received tips from corporate insiders and/or investment bankers with access to material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) and then traded in securities based on these tips. According to the superseding indictment that was recently filed, Safi, Ge, and Khouadja were all leaders of the global insider trading network from 2016 to 2024, who occasionally paid various insiders for the MNPI they provided. Khouadja, Safi and Ge reportedly placed the trades themselves and recruited a network of traders in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to make certain trades. According to federal prosecutors, Dong, Liu, Chou, Lee and Durai were network traders who traded on the basis of MNPI received in advance of more than a dozen corporate transactions and announcements. In exchange for the MNPI, the network traders allegedly agreed to kick back a percentage of the illicit profits to the network leaders. The defendants and other co-conspirators also allegedly attempted to conceal the kick back payments using cash transfers, third-party payments, shell companies, and sham loans and invoices. In addition, the defendants allegedly attempted to conceal the scheme from regulators and law enforcement officials by using prepaid “burner” cell phones, coded language, and encrypted mobile messaging applications to communicate about payments and trades made in furtherance of the scheme.
According to federal prosecutors, Safi was arrested in February 2025 for his role in the scheme and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and Ge was provisionally arrested in Singapore in July 2024 where he is currently subject to extradition proceedings. While arrest warrants have been issued for the remaining defendants, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, they were not in custody at the time of this publication and are considered fugitives from justice.
In March 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed parallel civil charges against Safi and Ge for their roles in the insider trading scheme that, according to the SEC, collectively generated more than $17.5 million in illegal profits. The SEC’s case against Safi and Ge is stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case against them.
USAO for the District of Massachusetts Press Release | Superseding Indictment | Arrest warrants | SEC Motion to Stay Proceedings