The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order on Monday to freeze approximately $2 million in profits from so-far unknown defendants who allegedly profited from insider trading in the planned acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation APC, -4.02% by oil and gas conglomerate Chevron Corporation CVX, -4.74% . The SEC identified a series of suspicious transactions prior to the April 12, 2019 announcement that Chevron intends to acquire all of Anadarko's outstanding shares for $65 per share in cash and stock, representing a 38% premium over Anadarko's pre-announcement closing price. The traders, who are currently unknown, allegedly used foreign brokerage accounts in the United Kingdom and Cyprus to purchase out-of-the-money call options through U.S.-based brokerage firms and on U.S.-based exchanges in the days leading up to the announcement. Anadarko's shares rose significantly following the announcement and the brokerage account customers profited by either selling many of the option contracts at a profit or exercising the options to acquire large positions of Anadarko stock at steep discounts. The court's order freezes the proceeds related to the foreign accounts' trading.