A founder of an artificial intelligence startup has admitted to taking part in a wide-ranging insider trading network in which attorneys at major law firms supplied confidential details about corporate deals to traders, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.
Court filings show that Arya Bolurfrushan - a former Goldman Sachs banker who founded Abu Dhabi-based AppliedAI - entered a guilty plea in June 2025 after reaching an agreement with federal prosecutors in Boston. The plea resolves criminal charges that arose as part of a larger probe in which investigators have been assembling cases against many others accused of benefiting from tips about mergers and acquisitions.
Under the terms of Bolurfrushan’s plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend a two-year prison sentence and that he forfeit $954,496 in profits he obtained through the scheme. Bolurfrushan was represented by Jordan Estes of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Estes declined to comment, according to the filings.
Prosecutors allege Bolurfrushan received inside information from Nicolo Nourafchan, a lawyer who previously worked at Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins and Goodwin Procter, and from personal injury attorney Robert Yadgarov. The two lawyers are said to have passed tips to Bolurfrushan in return for a share of trading profits, prosecutors wrote.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - which reached a civil settlement with Bolurfrushan on related claims that was disclosed on the same day - Bolurfrushan first became involved with the pair after meeting them through a family member of Nourafchan. The SEC said Bolurfrushan was recruited into the scheme in 2023 while he was in Dubai.
Authorities say one instance of wrongdoing occurred in September 2023, when Nourafchan, while employed as an associate at Goodwin Procter, accessed electronic documents about a transaction he was not assigned to. Those documents related to the planned acquisition of Goodwin’s client, Orchard Therapeutics, by Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd. Prosecutors say Nourafchan tipped Bolurfrushan to the impending deal, enabling Bolurfrushan to purchase Orchard securities ahead of the announcement.
The SEC states Bolurfrushan realized approximately $950,000 in trading gains from that activity and passed roughly $60,000 to Nourafchan and Yadgarov. Charging documents further allege Bolurfrushan executed another insider trade in mid-2024 after receiving a tip concerning investment firm Sixth Street’s proposed $5.1 billion acquisition of insurer Enstar.
Those two lawyers have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial. Prosecutors in May unveiled charges against Nourafchan and 29 other individuals accused of participating in a long-running scheme to profit from confidential merger information, and court records show that nine other people pleaded guilty in secret proceedings in the years before the wider indictments were announced.
The unsealed records tie Bolurfrushan’s criminal plea to the broader enforcement effort in Boston, where federal prosecutors have been pursuing cases aimed at dismantling what they describe as a network of insiders and traders leveraging privileged legal information for illicit profits.
Summary
Arya Bolurfrushan pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiring to commit securities fraud after prosecutors say he traded on confidential merger tips supplied by two lawyers. His plea includes a recommended two-year prison term and forfeiture of $954,496. The conduct described by prosecutors and the SEC includes trades tied to a September 2023 tip about Orchard Therapeutics’ proposed sale to Kyowa Kirin and a mid-2024 tip regarding Sixth Street’s planned acquisition of Enstar for $5.1 billion. Nourafchan and Yadgarov have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.