WASHINGTON – Fan Yang, also known as Jocelyn Yang, 35, and her husband, Jing Tian, 36, both of Carmel, Indiana, have pleaded guilty to charges linked to an insider trading conspiracy in U.S. District Court, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Yang, who served as a Corporate Development Manager and Strategy Finance Controller at a manufacturing firm, obtained confidential information about her company’s negotiations to acquire a Michigan-based automobile component manufacturer for $3.7 billion. The couple’s illegal activities began in late 2021, when Yang shared this information with Tian, who was also employed by the same company. Both individuals executed securities trades based on the non-public information and tipped off additional parties.
The conspiracy led to illicit trading activities involving multiple individuals across various states, including Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Washington state, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal profits before the acquisition was publicly announced on February 22, 2022. In a WeChat message exchanged during the scheme, Yang noted that their unlawful profits could allow them to purchase a Tesla without taking out a loan.
Yang and Tian have agreed to forfeit all profits derived from their insider trading scheme as part of their plea agreements. They each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for January 15, 2027. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sridhar Kaza, and the investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
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