MILLIONS MADE WITH SECRET MESSAGES! FOREIGN TRADERS CAUGHT IN INSIDER SCAM!

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26268, dated March 14, 2025.

The SEC charged Eamma Safi and Zhi Ge with orchestrating an international insider trading scheme from 2017 to 2024. They allegedly obtained material nonpublic information and used it to trade in advance of corporate announcements, generating over $17.5 million in illicit profits. The scheme involved coded communications and kickbacks, and parallel criminal charges were also filed.

In Plain English

Imagine someone learns a big secret about a company before anyone else, like a secret merger. They tell their friends, who then quickly buy or sell the company's stock to make money before the secret is public. This case is about two people, Eamma Safi and Zhi Ge, who allegedly did this over several years, making millions by trading on inside information. They even used secret messages to talk about their trades.

Disclaimer: all facts are drawn from the SEC's own filings; the claims described are allegations unless and until a court rules or the parties settle, and some cases end in dismissal.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

1. Obtaining Inside Information From 2017 to 2024, Eamma Safi allegedly obtained material nonpublic information about impending corporate transactions or announcements from insiders at publicly traded companies. This information was confidential and could significantly move stock prices.
2. Tipping and Recruitment Safi then tipped Zhi Ge with this inside information. Ge, in turn, recruited another individual, referred to as 'Trader A,' who was a U.S.-based securities trader, to participate in the scheme.
3. Profitable Trading Safi, Ge, and Trader A all traded profitably on the basis of these illegal tips. They established 'long' positions by purchasing shares of common stock, call options, American depositary receipts, and/or contracts-for-difference in targeted companies.
4. Kickbacks Demanded In exchange for the inside information, Safi and/or Ge allegedly demanded and received kickbacks of trading profits from Trader A. This created a direct financial incentive tied to the success of the illicit trades.
5. Coded Communications To conceal their activities, Safi, Ge, and other participants allegedly used coded and disappearing messages to communicate about their trading strategies and the information they were trading on.
6. Trading Through Multiple Accounts The illicit trading was conducted not only through individual trading accounts but also through brokerage accounts held in the names of other people and entities that were controlled by Safi, Ge, and/or Trader A.
7. Trading in Advance of Announcements The complaint alleges that Safi, Ge, and Trader A traded in advance of ten specific corporate announcements, demonstrating a pattern of exploiting nonpublic information before it became public knowledge.
8. Significant Illicit Profits Through this scheme, Safi, Ge, and Trader A allegedly generated over $17.5 million in illicit profits by trading on the material nonpublic information.

The Enforcement Action

On March 4, 2025, the SEC filed charges against Eamma Safi and Zhi Ge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts for their alleged involvement in an international insider trading scheme that generated over $17.5 million in illicit profits between 2017 and 2024. The SEC seeks injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts unsealed criminal indictments against Safi and Ge on the same date.

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