Ex-Lazard Banker's Insider Tips Reaped $41 Million Haul, US Says

A former dealmaker at Lazard Ltd., one of Wall Street’s most prominent investment banks, is accused by US authorities of feeding tips on health-care deals to a friend’s network of insider traders, who generated $41 million of illicit profits.

Justin Kim — now facing both criminal and regulatory charges — received a Rolex watch and career advice while leaking 10 potential takeovers over several years through 2023, according to a complaint from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to ban him from the industry. Last month, the Department of Justice unveiled fraud and insider trading charges against Kim that carry up to 25 years in prison.

The friend, Muhammad Saad Shoukat, two of his brothers and other defendants allegedly used the information for well-timed bets ahead of takeovers. Deals included Gilead Sciences Inc.’s $21 billion acquisition of Immunomedics Inc. in 2020, CVS Health Corp.’s $10.6 billion buyout of Oak Street Health Inc. and AbbVie Inc.’s $10.1 billion purchase of ImmunoGen Inc. in 2023 — three of the biggest that Lazard worked on in that sector over the past decade.

Though Lazard isn’t accused of wrongdoing, the scheme is coming to light as Chief Executive Officer Peter Orszag looks to build up the firm’s health-care franchise amid an upswing in global mergers and acquisitions. Altogether, illegal tips allegedly preceded deals that totaled more than $60 billion in value, according to Bloomberg calculations.

“Get ready bro,” Kim allegedly texted Shoukat in April 2023, shortly after finding out that Immunogen was in talks with AbbVie. “S—— is about to pop off.”

“Shoukat and his co-conspirators benefited greatly from their years-long scheme, and cheated the system to reap their rewards,” Stefanie Roddy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s special agent in charge in Newark, New Jersey, said in a statement as allegations against them began emerging last month.

Attorneys listed for Kim didn’t respond to messages seeking comment, nor did former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, an attorney for the Shoukats. 

“We have zero tolerance for conduct that does not adhere to our standards,” a spokesperson for Lazard said in an emailed statement. “The allegations against this junior banker, who has not been employed by the firm since 2023, are brazenly criminal and a clear violation of our policies, and we are fully cooperating with authorities.”

Prosecutors filed sealed charges against the Shoukat brothers and two other defendants in July, but it wasn’t until late November that US authorities in New Jersey charged Kim. He was arrested days later in San Francisco. He later posted $100,000 bail and has yet to enter a plea.

Though the complaints filed against Kim don’t identify where he worked at the time, brokerage industry employment records show he was at Lazard. The firm served as an adviser on the deals cited in the complaints, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In the latter half of 2023, Kim left its health-care team in San Francisco and joined Citigroup Inc. Industry records show his employment there recently ended.

“Mr. Kim is no longer with Citi, and we understand that the conduct charged in the complaint pertains to activity at a prior employer of Mr. Kim and not Citi,” a spokesperson for the New York-based bank said in an emailed statement.

While Kim was a junior member of his team, he had access to some of the industry’s biggest deals. Lazard advised clients on at least 17 health-care transactions that were worth more than $1 billion during the 2020-2023 period when the insider-trading ring was allegedly active, data compiled by Bloomberg show show. Authorities accused the group of targeting almost half of them, including trading around Biogen Inc.’s $7.3 billion purchase of Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Nestle SA’s $2.6 billion takeover of Aimmune Therapeutics Inc.

Kim allegedly worked on some deals directly and could also glean information through virtual data rooms and internal communications platforms at Lazard, the SEC alleged. He worked with his manager on vital documents for transactions such as “engagement letters, investment letters and confidential disclosure agreements,” according to the watchdog. He often communicated with his friend via encrypted messaging apps, prosecutors said.

Lazard also advised an unidentified client in 2022 that wanted to buy Global Blood Therapeutics Inc., which was working on a treatment for sickle-cell disease. Kim worked on a “detailed financial analysis” of the target company in April and the Shoukat group began amassing stock bets the following month, according to the US complaints. 

Lazard’s client made a $55-per-share offer for GBT in June, but a bidding war broke out, in which Pfizer Inc. ultimately prevailed. Still, Kim’s tips enabled Shoukat’s group to reap $20 million in trading profits, charging documents say.

Prosecutors didn’t identify Lazard’s client. Bloomberg has reported that Johnson & Johnson made a $55-per-share offer around the same time. 

Insider trading was just one of several alleged schemes led by Shoukat, who had met Kim while the two previously interned together at Citigroup in 2018.

Shoukat and his brothers impersonated physicians as they sought confidential information about clinical trials carried out by Olema Pharmaceuticals Inc., a San Francisco-based company that was working on a drug for types of breast cancer, according to the Justice Department and SEC. They also hijacked the accounts of users on breast-cancer forums and posted false messages about the drug’s increased efficacy, jacking up the firm’s stock price so they could dump their holdings for a profit, authorities said.

The group also targeted shares of Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc., a maker of addiction-treatment drugs. Kim allegedly tipped off Shoukat in December 2021 that the company was likely to be bought by Indivior Plc. After the deal stalled, the group published a fake press release to push up the Santa Monica-based company’s share price, again allowing them to sell their stock at a profit, authorities said.

Shoukat’s group also tried to pressure executives at Opiant into releasing clinical data on one of the company’s drugs, the SEC alleged. In March 2022, one of the brothers, Muhammad Arham Shoukat, criticized the CEO on Twitter, posting “kick him out or jump him and kick his a— how hard is it to find his addy in santa monica?” according to the regulator’s complaint. 

Indivior eventually agreed to buy Opiant for about $145 million in November 2022. The target company was advised by Lazard.

With assistance from David Voreacos and Chris Dolmetsch.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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