US District Court for the District of Columbia

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A securities fraud case with major DC connections is unfolding after an Indiana couple was charged in Washington for allegedly leaking insider information tied to a $3.7 billion corporate acquisition, federal prosecutors said.

Fan Yang, 39, and Jing Tian, 37, both of Indianapolis, were arrested Tuesday, Dec. 9, in an indictment filed in Washington, DC, the US Attorney’s Office announced.

Yang — also known as “Jocelyn Yang” — and Tian each face charges that include conspiracy to commit securities fraud, officials said. 

According to prosecutors, Yang was a finance executive at the Indiana manufacturing company behind the deal, where Tian also worked.

According to the indictment, the pair had early access to confidential discussions about acquiring a Michigan-based auto parts firm.

Those talks were still private in late 2021. 

But prosecutors say Yang began collecting material non-public information (MNPI) months before the deal was announced. 

By November 2021, she and Tian allegedly started buying securities based on what they knew — and began sharing the information with others.

According to the charging document, the group communicating with the couple eventually grew to include two Georgetown University graduate students in DC and a trader in China. 

Investigators say they discussed their plans in Chinese using messaging apps.

On Nov. 22, 2021, Yang allegedly sent Tian a WeChat message about their position in the stock.

“We have over 100,000 in there," Yang allegedly wrote. "If the acquisition is completed with 3.5b, we can get a Tesla. Trade in and don’t need a loan, haha.”

Prosecutors say Yang also told another trader she knew the stock would rise because her company was acquiring the firm — information that was not public at the time.

When the deal was formally announced on Feb. 22, 2022, the targeted company’s stock price jumped 44 percent before markets opened, rising to $35.55. The group allegedly walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.

Yang and Tian are charged in the US District Court in DC with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The case remains under investigation.