Elite corporate lawyers accused of earning millions on insider trading, using bizarre code like, Hows the rabbi?

A ring of elite corporate lawyers were accused of illegally trading on inside info about blockbuster deals over a decade, using a bizarre code that referred to one merger as a “rabbi” as they raked in tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten profits, according to federal prosecutors.Nicolo Nourafchan, a former mergers-and-acquisitions attorney at Goodwin and Latham, was accused of raiding confidential law-firm databases for secret deal documents tied to at least two dozen corporate transactions.According to indictments unsealed Wednesday in Boston federal court, Nourafchan, 43, and associate Robert Yadgarov, 45, built a massive insider-trading pipeline that netted them a fortune by trading ahead of major acquisitions involving companies including Anadarko Petroleum, Care.com, iRobot, Qualcomm and Tim Hortons.The ring allegedly tried to hide their plans with code words like “rabbi,” “doctor” and “surgery.”Prosecutors said alleged conspirator Simon Fensterszaub, 50, asked at one point, “I really need to know when the rabbi is scheduled for surgery” — a reference to a pending deal — following up with, “How’s the rabbi?”“He’s stable,” alleged conspirator Gavryel Silverstein, 43, replied, according to authorities, who said the response was meant to convey that an expected acquisition announcement would take place as planned.Pending corporate takeovers and trading opportunities were allegedly described as “flights,” with traders alerting associates when a deal was “taking off” and telling them to get their “passport ready.” Insiders themselves were allegedly referred to as “travel agents” and “pilots.”“We cannot miss this boat!!” Fensterszaub wrote while discussing an upcoming deal, according to prosecutors.The indictments do not name the law firms Nourafchan and Yadgarov allegedly targeted for insider information.But Bloomberg News identified the firms as including Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Latham &am...