SEC v. Muhammad Saad Shoukat, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat, et al. — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Litigation Release No. 26458, dated January 6, 2026.
Three brothers and three friends are accused of orchestrating a $41 million insider trading scheme and manipulating two pharmaceutical stocks. The brothers allegedly impersonated doctors to steal confidential information, spread false clinical trial results, and threatened company leadership while issuing fake press releases to inflate stock prices.
In Plain English
Imagine a group of friends who found out secret news about a company before anyone else. They used this secret information to buy and sell the company's stock, making a lot of money. They also tricked people by making up fake news about another company's medicine trials to make its stock price go up, and even threatened people to help their plan. In total, they made about $41 million from these dishonest actions.
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
- Stealing Confidential Information Muhammad Saad and Muhammad Arham Shoukat allegedly impersonated physicians to gain access to non-public information about Olema Pharmaceuticals' clinical trials. This allowed them to obtain sensitive data that could influence the stock's price.
- Spreading False Trial Results The Shoukat brothers then allegedly stole the identities of actual metastatic breast cancer patients from online forums. They used these stolen identities to publish falsified clinical trial results, aiming to artificially inflate Olema's stock price.
- Insider Trading Tip-Off Separately, Justin Kim, an investment banker, allegedly tipped off Saad Shoukat with material nonpublic information about nine potential corporate acquisitions. This information was obtained from Kim's firm.
- Tipping Off Others Saad Shoukat then allegedly shared these insider tips with his brothers, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, Izunna Okonkwo, and Daniyal Khan, enabling them to trade on the nonpublic information.
- Manipulating Opiant Pharmaceuticals In a separate manipulation scheme involving Opiant Pharmaceuticals, the three Shoukat brothers allegedly purchased stock based on a tip about an impending acquisition. When the deal stalled, they took further action.
- Threats and False Press Release The Shoukat brothers allegedly threatened Opiant's leadership and issued a fake press release announcing a fictitious partnership deal for Opiant's lead drug candidate. This action was designed to boost the stock price.
- Profiting from Manipulation Following the false press release, the Shoukat brothers were able to sell their Opiant stock at a more profitable price than they would have otherwise, capitalizing on the artificially inflated stock value.
- Accumulating $41 Million in Profits The alleged insider trading scheme, which ran from at least June 2020 through February 2024, involved the Shoukat brothers and their three friends. Their combined profits from all schemes totaled approximately $41 million.
The Enforcement Action
The SEC charged Muhammad Saad Shoukat, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, and Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat with market manipulation and insider trading. The complaint alleges violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 thereunder. All defendants except Khan are also charged with violating Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act and Rule 14e-3 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Relief defendants Mishal Anwar and Gozie Okonkwo are also named for disgorgement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced parallel criminal charges.
Named in this action: Muhammad Saad Shoukat, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat, Izunna Okonkwo, Daniyal Khan, Justin Kim.