Arya Bolurfrushan, founder and CEO of Abu Dhabi-based AppliedAI and a former Goldman Sachs banker, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiring to commit securities fraud as part of a wide-ranging insider trading scheme tied to confidential merger tips from law firm attorneys.
The founder and chief executive of an Abu Dhabi-based AI startup secretly pleaded guilty last year to participating in an insider trading scheme in which attorneys at major law firms tipped traders about confidential merger information, according to court records unsealed Monday.
Arya Bolurfrushan, a former Goldman Sachs banker who founded AppliedAI, entered his guilty plea in June 2025 as part of a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors in Boston who were building cases against dozens of alleged participants in the long-running scheme.
Bolurfrushan pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud. Under the terms of his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to recommend a two-year prison sentence and the forfeiture of $954,496 he derived from the scheme. His attorney, Jordan Estes of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, declined to comment.
Nine other individuals also pleaded guilty in sealed proceedings before prosecutors publicly announced the broader indictments.
The scheme centered on tips passed from Nicolo Nourafchan — who had worked at the law firms Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins, and Goodwin Procter — and his partner, personal injury attorney Robert Yadgarov. Bolurfrushan received the tips in exchange for a share of his trading profits, according to prosecutors.
Bolurfrushan was recruited into the arrangement in 2023 while he was in Dubai, having been introduced to the two lawyers through one of Nourafchan's family members, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which settled civil claims against Bolurfrushan in a related lawsuit on Monday.
One of the scheme's documented trades involved the planned acquisition of Orchard Therapeutics by Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd. In September 2023, Nourafchan — then working as an associate at Goodwin Procter — accessed electronic documents related to the deal despite not being assigned to it, according to prosecutors and the SEC. He passed that information to Bolurfrushan, who purchased Orchard securities ahead of the announcement.
The SEC said Bolurfrushan earned $950,000 in trading profits from that transaction and passed approximately $60,000 to Nourafchan and Yadgarov.
Bolurfrushan's insider trading continued into mid-2024, when he acted on a tip about investment firm Sixth Street's plans to acquire insurer Enstar for $5.1 billion, according to charging documents.
Nourafchan and Yadgarov pleaded not guilty last month to securities fraud and other charges and are awaiting trial. They are among 30 people charged when prosecutors unveiled the indictments in May.
The case highlights the vulnerability of law firm communications to exploitation by insiders — particularly associates with access to deal documents outside their assigned matters. Federal prosecutors have increasingly targeted insider trading rings that route confidential information through professional intermediaries, underscoring the legal exposure faced by attorneys who misuse privileged client information.
With Bolurfrushan's cooperation already secured and the broader trial proceedings ahead, the case is expected to remain a focal point for securities enforcement authorities in the months to come.
Marc Sabatini is a staff writer at TechEchelon covering enterprise software, cybersecurity, and the regulatory beats that shape both. He focuses on the deal flow and policy decisions that move markets.
More from Marc →Samsung Electronics reported a record preliminary second-quarter operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.4 billion), up from 4.7 trillion won a year earlier, though shares fell nearly 5% at Tuesday's open amid concerns over one-off bonus-related expenses.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell pledged to donate SpaceX stock to roughly 2 million Trump Accounts, while bitcoin rebounded 1.8% after President Trump called himself "a big crypto guy" at a Monday press conference.
Bitcoin recovered to $63,853.85 on Monday after President Trump declared himself "a big crypto guy," reversing an earlier 2% decline triggered by Strategy's disclosure that it had sold $216 million worth of bitcoin.
Written for readers who already know the basics — markets, AI, and the policy decisions that shape both.