What happened
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said on 12 November 2026 that a criminal complaint was unsealed in Brooklyn charging Chetram Balli, also known as 'Tony Balli', with insider trading in the shares of five companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ. He was arrested that morning in Queens. Prosecutors allege that Balli, a document processing specialist at a major New York-based international law firm since about 1989, used material non-public information about the firm's clients' upcoming mergers, acquisitions and partnerships to trade ahead of public announcements, making more than $70,000 in profit between April 2025 and October 2026. One example in the complaint: on 12 May 2025 he allegedly bought about 14,866 shares of E2open Parent Holdings (NYSE: ETWO) shortly before WiseTech Global announced an agreement to acquire it. The FBI New York Field Office investigated, with help from the SEC and FINRA. The charges are allegations and Balli is presumed innocent; no plea was reported.
How the scam works
Unlicensed investment and 'AI trading' sites usually start with a polished sign-up form, a promised high or guaranteed return, and pressure to deposit quickly, often after a call or a message on Telegram. Early small withdrawals may be paid so that you send more. Clone firms copy the name, and sometimes the address or phone number, of a real authorised business. Check the firm on your national regulator's register, and type the official website yourself rather than following a link. A regulator warning or a block order is not a finding that a particular customer lost money; it is a notice that the site is not authorised to offer those services.
Source
Source: https://x.com/NewYorkFBI/status/2120954999148630342 (@NewYorkFBI, Nov 12, 2026, 2:00 PM ET); https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/employee-major-international-law-firm-charged-insider-trading (USAO EDNY, 12 Nov 2026)
