On August 22, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil insider trading charges against Rouzbeh “Ross” Haghighat, a former director of biopharmaceutical company Chinook Therapeutics, Inc., who was charged along with two of his family members and two of his close friends. According to the SEC, the charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in connection with securities purchases made ahead of an announcement regarding Chinook’s impending acquisition by Swiss holding company Novartis. In May of 2025, the Department of Justice announced that parallel criminal charges had been filed against the same five defendants as part of a 19-count indictment related to the purchase of Chinook securities based on material nonpublic information obtained between May and June of 2023.
According to the SEC’s complaint, Ross Haghighat learned of the upcoming acquisition while serving as a member of Chinook’s board of directors. The SEC alleges that Ross Haghighat breached a duty of confidentiality owed to Chinook and its shareholders by sharing MNPI regarding the acquisition with his brother Behrouz “Bruce” Haghighat, his stepdaughter Kirstyn Pearl, and his friends James Roberge and Syedfarbod “Fabio” Sabzevari, all of whom allegedly purchased Chinook securities based on the tip. According to the SEC, the family members and friends allegedly knew or were reckless in not knowing that the tip was based on information obtained as a Chinook insider. The SEC further alleges that Ross Haghighat purchased Chinook stock based on the MNPI using an account that he managed for a minor stepchild. According to the SEC, when the acquisition was announced publicly on June 12, 2023, Chinook’s stock increased drastically enabling the five defendants to collectively generate more than $500,000 in illicit profits.
In its complaint, the SEC charged Ross Haghighat, Bruce Haghighat, Pearl, Roberge, and Sabzevari with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC is seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties against all defendants as well as an officer-and-director bar against Ross Haghighat.