Daily Digest Online

The FBI has named Izunna Okonkwo, the celebrated co-founder of Nigerian tech startup Pastel and a 2023 Forbes Africa "30 Under 30" honoree, as a person of interest in a sprawling insider trading and money laundering conspiracy that allegedly generated $41 million in illegal profits. In a major development, U.S. federal investigators have implicated a prominent Nigerian tech entrepreneur in a sophisticated, multi-million dollar financial fraud scheme. Izunna Okonkwo, 30, co-founder of the digital bookkeeping startup Pastel, is accused of being a key beneficiary of confidential information illegally leaked by an investment banker at Citibank. According to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, the scheme operated for five years. It centered on Gyunho Justin Kim, an investment banker at Citibank in San Francisco, who allegedly shared material, non-public information about upcoming corporate acquisitions with his f...

The FBI is investigating whether the suspect in last month's fatal shooting of a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. had connections to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, as new details emerge about his activities before the attack. Federal investigators are examining potential ties between National Guard shooting suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal and the global Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Lakanwal, a former Afghan commando, is accused of ambushing and shooting two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House on November 26. Soldier Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her injuries, while Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Sources indicate that in phone calls with his wife before the attack, Lakanwal stated he was "doing Tablighi"—a reference to missionary work associated with Tablighi Jamaat. This detail, provided by the suspect...