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by Mike Caswell

Ross Haghighat, the Massachusetts man charged for insider trading arising from a 2023 takeover of Chinook Therapeutics Inc., has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors claim that Mr. Haghighat was part of a scheme that generated $600,000 in gains from the $3.2-billion takeover offer by trading before the deal became public. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He learned about the takeover through board meetings, the government said.

Mr. Haghighat entered his plea before a federal judge in New Jersey on Monday, June 16. The judge allowed Mr. Haghighat, 61, to remain free until trial on his previous release conditions, which included a $250,000 appearance bond and a prohibition on trading. The charges to which Mr. Haghighat pleaded not guilty are one count of securities fraud, 16 counts of insider trading and two counts of conspiracy. The maximum possible jail term is 25 years.

The plea comes with Mr. Haghighat having recently resigned from Sernova Biotherapeutics Inc., a Toronto Stock Exchange listing that had him as its chairman. The departure came in a brief news release that made no mention of Mr. Haghighat's reason for leaving. Mr. Haghighat resigned on May 24, the day after Stockwatch reported the charges against him. (Mr. Haghighat had been aware of the charges for weeks by that point. While the matter was not yet public, court records show that he made his first appearance before a judge on April 30.)

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