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AppliedAI CEO Admits Insider Trading Using M&A Tips From Law Firm Attorneys

July 7, 2026 at 11:25 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Finance
Sales & Business

Arya Bolurfrushan, founder and CEO of AppliedAI, a startup building AI for regulated industries, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for trading on nonpublic M&A information obtained from attorneys at major law firms, according to U.S. federal court records unsealed on July 7, 2026.

July 7, 2026 · U.S. Attorney's Office, Boston

AI Startup CEO Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading on Leaked M&A Tips

AppliedAI founder Arya Bolurfrushan admitted to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, trading on confidential deal information funneled out of major law firms by attorney tipsters — part of a scheme that spanned nearly a decade.

~$954K

Trading profit targeted for forfeiture

2 yrs

Prison term sought, plus forfeiture

People charged in the scheme (9 pleaded guilty)

The Orchard Trade — Where the Money Went

Trading ahead of Kyowa Kirin's planned acquisition of Orchard Therapeutics (a Goodwin Procter client), September 2023.

~$950K

Profit earned

~$60K

Kicked back to tipsters

The amber sliver represents the ~6% kickback carved out of the profit and paid to the lawyers who leaked the deal.

How Confidential Deals Became Trades

Law firm systems

MNPI on ~30 M&A deals over nearly a decade

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Attorney tipsters

Extracted deal details, shared with the network

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CEO trades

Traded ahead of deals incl. Sixth Street's $5.1B Enstar buy

A tech twist on an old crime

Insider-trading cases tied to law firms are not new — but an AI startup executive at the center of one has intensified scrutiny of how firms protect confidential M&A work.

Cooperation building

9 of 30 charged have pleaded guilty and turned cooperating witnesses.

Still contested

Key defendants, including attorney Nourafchan, plead not guilty and await trial.

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