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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Federal prosecutors charged six people in connection with three alleged stock schemes—not just the four Pakistan-linked defendants highlighted in the original framing. The approximately $41 million figure refers to alleged profits from an insider-trading scheme attributed to Saad Shoukat and co-conspirators; it is not a finding of investor losses or a proven total across all three schemes. The charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Who was charged?
On December 19, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced charges against six people over alleged schemes said to span June 2020 through February 2024. The four Pakistan-linked defendants are:
- Muhammad Saad Shoukat, whom the DOJ describes as a dual U.S.-Pakistani citizen;
- his brothers Muhammad Arham Shoukat and Muhammad Shahwaiz Shoukat, also described as dual U.S.-Pakistani citizens; and
- Daniyal Khan, described as the brothers’ childhood friend and a dual U.K.-Pakistani citizen.
The other two people named in the announcement are investment banker Gyunho Justin Kim and Izunna Okonkwo. So “four Pakistanis” identifies four people among those charged; it does not describe the total number of defendants. The DOJ announcement lays out the charges and allegations.
What does the $41 million refer to?
The approximately $41 million is the DOJ’s estimate of alleged profits from the insider-trading scheme attributed to Saad Shoukat and co-conspirators. It is not described in the cited announcement as proven investor losses, and it is not a combined figure for the Olema and Opiant allegations. The estimate remains an allegation, not a court finding. The DOJ release provides the government’s attribution.
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What are the three alleged schemes?
Prosecutors describe three overlapping allegations: trading on confidential deal information, manipulating Olema stock with falsified drug data, and using a fake website and announcement to move Opiant stock. The alleged methods and claimed effects differ:
| Alleged scheme | Company or market | Alleged mechanism | Claimed financial effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insider trading | At least nine pending mergers and acquisitions involving publicly traded healthcare and biopharmaceutical companies | Kim allegedly obtained material nonpublic deal information and shared it with Saad Shoukat, who allegedly traded and tipped others. | Approximately $41 million in alleged profits attributed to Shoukat and co-conspirators by the DOJ. |
| Olema stock manipulation | Olema Pharmaceuticals and its breast-cancer drug candidate OP-1250 | Saad and Arham Shoukat and others allegedly accessed confidential drug information, altered data to make the candidate appear more effective, and publicly disseminated the falsified information. | The DOJ alleges the release temporarily raised Olema’s share price, allowing participants to sell shares at a profit or avoid losses. No dollar amount is stated in the cited release. |
| Opiant stock manipulation | Opiant Pharmaceuticals | After a potential acquisition stalled, Saad Shoukat, his brothers, and others allegedly used a fake Opiant website and email addresses to get a false deal announcement published. | The DOJ says Opiant’s stock rose approximately 29% after the release; alleged participants sold shares during the rise. No dollar profit amount is stated in the cited release. |
Insider trading: information about pending deals
According to prosecutors, Kim, an investment banker, obtained material nonpublic information about pending mergers and acquisitions involving publicly traded healthcare and biopharmaceutical companies. He allegedly shared information about at least nine deals with Saad Shoukat. Shoukat allegedly traded on the information and tipped others, including Arham Shoukat, Shahwaiz Shoukat, Khan, and Okonkwo. The approximately $41 million estimate applies to alleged profits from this scheme, not to the other two allegations. The DOJ’s charging announcement describes the government’s account.
Olema: alleged falsification of drug-candidate data
The DOJ alleges that Saad and Arham Shoukat and others accessed confidential information about OP-1250, Olema’s breast-cancer drug candidate, altered the data to make the drug appear more effective, and circulated the falsified information publicly. Prosecutors say the release temporarily raised Olema’s stock price, enabling alleged participants to sell shares and profit or avoid losses. The DOJ release does not give a dollar estimate for the alleged Olema gains.
Opiant: an alleged fake acquisition announcement
After a potential Opiant acquisition stalled, Saad Shoukat, his brothers, and others allegedly created a fake Opiant website and email addresses and used them to get a false press release published announcing a purported deal. The DOJ says the release drove Opiant’s stock price up approximately 29%, during which alleged participants sold shares. The cited release does not quantify their alleged dollar gain. The government’s account describes this as a separate stock-manipulation scheme.
Are the charges convictions?
No. The December 19, 2025 announcement presents allegations, not findings that the defendants committed the crimes. The DOJ expressly states that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. It lists maximum possible penalties by count if a defendant is convicted; those statutory maximums are not predictions of what a court would impose. The announcement is the cited source for the charges and that presumption.
The cited charging materials do not establish each defendant’s later court status. They therefore do not support a claim here about a plea, trial result, conviction, dismissal, or sentence.
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