Prosecutors say that between March and June 2025 the pair engaged in a scheme to obtain information about the companies, which announced they had entered into merger agreements “that resulted in significant increases in the share price of each company’s stock.”
Chen, 31, and Zhen, 29, made purchases before the announcements “and sold those shares at a significant profit immediately after the announcement,” according to a criminal complaint in federal court in Brooklyn. “In total, Chen and Zhen have made a profit of more than $1 million from their trading.”
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Chen and Zhen Friday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport as they were planning to board a flight to Hong Kong, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for Nocella.
Chris Wright, a lawyer for Zhen, and Charles Millioen, a lawyer for Chen, didn’t immediately return email messages seeking comment about their clients.
Chen worked as an operator and assistant manager at EdgarAgents.com while Zhen worked as an operator and typeset manager, prosecutors said. The two had access to the company announcements before they were filed.
Prosecutors said the pair conducted many of their trades “within hours” and “sometimes minutes” of each other suggesting, they were coordinating their trading, according to the US.
EdgarAgents.com was not accused of wrongdoing and an email sent to the company after business hours wasn’t immediately returned.
Both men are charged with securities fraud, which carries a prison term of as long as 25 years, prosecutors said.
Chen and Zhen made their initial court appearances in federal court in Brooklyn on Saturday before US Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon, who ordered them held without bail.
(This story was updated on July 1 to add new details from filing. It was also corrected to clarify where the suspects worked.)
