{"investigation":{"slug":"fan-yang-and-jing-tian","entity_name":"Fan Yang and Jing Tian","trust_score":5,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.92,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Fan Yang (also known as 'Jocelyn Yang') and her husband Jing Tian, both of Carmel, Indiana and both former employees of Cummins Inc., pleaded guilty in September 2026 to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for an alleged insider-trading scheme built around Cummins's confidential 2021-2022 negotiations to acquire Meritor, Inc. Prosecutors and the SEC allege Yang used her corporate-development role to obtain material non-public information about the $3.7 billion deal, tipped Tian, and that the information cascaded through a network of associates who traded Meritor securities ahead of the February 2022 public announcement. No reliable source reviewed connects either individual, or the underlying scheme, to cryptocurrency.","sections":[{"content":"On September 15, 2026, Fan Yang (also known as 'Jocelyn Yang'), 35, and Jing Tian, 36, both of Carmel, Indiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Under their plea agreements, both defendants agreed to forfeit all traceable profits derived from the scheme pursuant to federal forfeiture laws. Each faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announcing the plea, and was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office. A parallel civil action was filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 28, 2026 (SEC v. Fan 'Jocelyn' Yang, et al., No. 1:26-cv-03366, D.D.C.), in which Yang and Tian consented to final judgments permanently enjoining future violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, with civil penalty amounts to be determined later by the court.","heading":"Guilty Plea to Securities Fraud Conspiracy","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-insider-trading-scheme","name":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. — 'Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Scheme'","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme","name":"Congress Heights on the Rise — 'Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Scheme'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"According to the DOJ and SEC, Fan Yang held a corporate-development role at Cummins Inc. (described by the SEC as 'accountant in Cummins, Inc.'s corporate development department' and elsewhere as 'Corporate Development Manager and Strategy Finance Controller'), where Jing Tian, her husband, was also employed as an engineer. Starting in late 2021, Yang allegedly obtained material non-public information about Cummins's confidential negotiations to acquire Meritor Inc., a Troy, Michigan-based automotive and truck components manufacturer, for approximately $3.7 billion. Prosecutors allege Yang breached her fiduciary duties by using the information for personal gain and by tipping Tian, who then traded on it and passed it to others. The deal was publicly announced on February 22, 2022, after which Meritor's stock price rose sharply. In one WeChat message cited by prosecutors, Yang allegedly wrote to Tian: 'If the acquisition is completed with 3.5b, we can get a Tesla. Trade in and don't need a loan, haha.' Prosecutors say the group communicated in Chinese over messaging apps while coordinating trades.","heading":"The Underlying Scheme: Corporate Position and Alleged Exploitation of Material Non-Public Information","sources":[{"url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme","name":"Congress Heights on the Rise — plea scheme details","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.aol.com/news/dc-prosecutors-detail-insider-trading-185651833.html","name":"AOL/Daily Voice — 'DC Prosecutors Detail Insider Trading Scheme With Georgetown Link: We Can Get A Tesla'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.ttnews.com/articles/cummins-buy-parts-manufacturer-meritor-37-billion","name":"Transport Topics — 'Cummins to Buy Parts Manufacturer Meritor for $3.7 Billion'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"The SEC's civil complaint alleges a multi-step tipping chain extending from Yang and Tian to four additional defendants: Tian allegedly passed the information to a close friend (not named in the SEC release), who shared it with his wife, Zijun Zhang of Chengdu, Sichuan, China, who traded Meritor securities and then passed the information to Shuchen Zhu of Chantilly, Virginia. Zhu, in turn, allegedly passed the tip to Chong Zhang of Bellevue, Washington, and Hanxiong Bo of North Hollywood, California, both of whom also traded ahead of the February 22, 2022 announcement. The SEC states that Zijun Zhang, Shuchen Zhu, Chong Zhang, and Bo collectively realized over $500,000 in illicit trading profits. Each of the four agreed to pay disgorgement and civil penalties without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations: Zijun Zhang ($143,034 disgorgement, $12,882 prejudgment interest, $143,034 penalty); Shuchen Zhu ($172,366 disgorgement, $119,191 penalty, plus a bar from acting as or being associated with a broker, dealer, or investment adviser); Chong Zhang ($146,253 disgorgement, $48,751 penalty); and Hanxiong Bo ($38,955 disgorgement, $3,508 prejudgment interest, $38,955 penalty). Separately, earlier news coverage of the December 2025 indictment reported that the group of people trading on the tip eventually grew to include two Georgetown University graduate students in Washington, D.C. and a trader based in China; these individuals were not named in the sources reviewed and it is unclear whether they are the same persons named in the SEC's later civil complaint. This detail should be treated as unverified pending clearer sourcing.","heading":"Network of Tippees and Alleged Co-Conspirators","sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.aol.com/news/dc-prosecutors-detail-insider-trading-185651833.html","name":"AOL/Daily Voice — Georgetown graduate students detail","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"Fan Yang and Jing Tian were arrested on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, on an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, each facing two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. announced the charges, which were reported to carry case number 25cr0369. News coverage at the time of the indictment listed the defendants' ages as 39 and 37, while the later DOJ plea release listed them as 35 and 36; the source of this discrepancy could not be confirmed from the sources reviewed.","heading":"Indictment and Prosecution Timeline","sources":[{"url":"https://www.aol.com/news/dc-prosecutors-detail-insider-trading-185651833.html","name":"AOL/Daily Voice — arrest and indictment details","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/indiana-couple-charged-indictment-filed-dc-securities-fraud-insider-trading","name":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. — indictment announcement","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"Following their September 2026 guilty pleas, Fan Yang and Jing Tian are scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2027, before Judge James E. Boasberg. Each faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, and both have agreed under their plea agreements to forfeit traceable profits from the scheme. As of this writing, sentencing has not yet occurred and no final sentence has been reported.","heading":"Pending Sentencing","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-insider-trading-scheme","name":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. — 'Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Scheme'","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme","name":"Congress Heights on the Rise — sentencing date","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"No court filing, regulatory release, or news report reviewed for this investigation ties Fan Yang, Jing Tian, or the alleged Meritor tipping network to cryptocurrency in any way. The underlying conduct concerns alleged insider trading in the publicly traded securities of Meritor Inc. and Cummins Inc., both traditional industrial companies with no evident crypto-asset business line. Targeted searches for a cryptocurrency connection returned no relevant results. This page is included in AVOID.NET's index because the entity name was submitted for investigation in a crypto-risk context; readers should not infer a digital-asset nexus that the public record does not support.","heading":"Cryptocurrency Involvement: Not Substantiated","sources":[{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"low"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2021","event":"Fan Yang allegedly begins obtaining material non-public information about Cummins's confidential negotiations to acquire Meritor Inc., and tips her husband Jing Tian.","source":"Congress Heights on the Rise","source_url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme"},{"date":"2022-02-22","event":"Cummins publicly announces its agreement to acquire Meritor Inc. for approximately $3.7 billion.","source":"Transport Topics","source_url":"https://www.ttnews.com/articles/cummins-buy-parts-manufacturer-meritor-37-billion","date_evidence":"the acquisition was announced publicly on February 22, 2022"},{"date":"2025-12","event":"Fan Yang and Jing Tian are arrested on an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.","source":"AOL/Daily Voice","source_url":"https://www.aol.com/news/dc-prosecutors-detail-insider-trading-185651833.html","date_evidence":"were arrested Tuesday, Dec. 9, in an indictment filed in Washington, DC","date_original":"2025-12-09"},{"date":"2026-09-15","event":"Yang and Tian plead guilty before Judge James E. Boasberg to conspiracy to commit securities fraud.","source":"Congress Heights on the Rise","source_url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme","date_evidence":"Tuesday, September 15, 2026"},{"date":"2026-09-28","event":"The SEC files a parallel civil complaint against Yang, Tian, and four additional defendants (Zijun Zhang, Shuchen Zhu, Chong Zhang, and Hanxiong Bo) alleging insider trading in Meritor securities.","source":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","source_url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","date_evidence":"On September 28, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges"},{"date":"2027-01-15","event":"Yang and Tian are scheduled to be sentenced, each facing a statutory maximum of five years in prison.","source":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C.","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-insider-trading-scheme","date_evidence":"sentencing is set for January 15, 2027"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-insider-trading-scheme","name":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. — 'Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Scheme'","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/indiana-couple-charged-indictment-filed-dc-securities-fraud-insider-trading","name":"DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C. — indictment announcement","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26650","name":"SEC Litigation Release No. 26650","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.congressheightsontherise.com/blog/husband-and-wife-plead-guilty-to-insider-trading-scheme","name":"Congress Heights on the Rise — 'Husband and Wife Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Scheme'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.aol.com/news/dc-prosecutors-detail-insider-trading-185651833.html","name":"AOL/Daily Voice — 'DC Prosecutors Detail Insider Trading Scheme With Georgetown Link: We Can Get A Tesla'","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.ttnews.com/articles/cummins-buy-parts-manufacturer-meritor-37-billion","name":"Transport Topics — 'Cummins to Buy Parts Manufacturer Meritor for $3.7 Billion'","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"source_tags":[],"addresses":[],"reviewed":true,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-code-investigator","created_at":"2026-09-20T23:11:18.435364+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-27T19:06:14.571+00:00"},"source_quality":{"total":6,"tier1":3,"tier2":0,"tier3":0,"unrated":3},"follower_count":null,"content_updated_at":"2026-10-27T19:06:15.295Z","last_fact_checked_at":"2026-10-27T19:06:14.930Z","fact_check_next_allowed_at":null,"update_next_allowed_at":null}