The Digest:
Nigerian-American entrepreneur Izunna Okonkwo, co-founder of fintech startup Pastel and a Forbes 30-under-30 honoree, has been named by the FBI in a sprawling insider trading scheme. U.S. prosecutors allege he used confidential merger tips from a Citibank banker to illicitly generate at least $41 million in profits over five years.
Key Points:
- The FBI has identified Izunna Okonkwo, 30, co-founder of fintech app Pastel and a 2023 Forbes 30-under-30 honoree, as a person of interest.
- He is implicated in a scheme where Citibank banker Gyunho Justin Kim allegedly leaked confidential acquisition intel to his friend, Saad Shoukat, who relayed it to Okonkwo.
- Court filings state Okonkwo knew Kim was the source and communicated with Shoukat on an encrypted messaging app about impending deals like the Biogen-Reata acquisition before they were public.
- Okonkwo and Shoukat drafted a profit-sharing agreement allowing Shoukat to trade through Okonkwo's brokerage accounts.
- The scheme touched six major pharmaceutical deals, including Gilead-Immunomedics and Pfizer-GBT.
- The FBI traced account logins to Okonkwo's London residence, the same address used for Shoukat's trades.
- Profits from the scheme exceeded $41 million; Okonkwo personally made at least $2.3 million from the Immunomedics deal alone.
- He made $3.5 million shortly before Pastel announced a $5.5 million seed funding round.
- It remains unclear if Okonkwo has been detained; he operates between Lagos and Atlanta and has not commented.
