Two Indian brothers, their Indian-American friend charged in first ever cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme: Official

moneycontrol.com:

Two Indian brothers and their Indian-American friend have been charged in the US in the first ever cryptocurrency insider trading scheme in which they made illicit profits totalling over a million dollars.

Ishan Wahi, 32, and his brother Nikhil Wahi, 26, are citizens of India and were residing in Seattle while Sameer Ramani, 33, resides in Houston.

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams and Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Michael J. Driscoll announced on Thursday the unsealing of an Indictment charging the Wahi brothers and Ramani with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets by using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase’s exchanges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also announced insider trading charges against the three men. The Wahi brothers were arrested on Thursday morning in Seattle and will be presented in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The SEC complaint said Ramani is believed to currently be in India. Ramani and Ishan Wahi attended the University of Texas at Austin at the same time and remain close friends. Ramani and Ishan Wahi attended the University of Texas at Austin at the same time and remain close friends.

Prosecutors said the three have been charged in the first ever cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme, in which the defendants made illegal trades in at least 25 different crypto assets and realized ill-gotten gains totalling approximately USD 1.5 million.

"Today’s charges are a further reminder that Web3 is not a