Ex-Deutsche Bank traders found guilty of "spoof" orders in gold and silver futures markets
A Chicago court has sentenced a former Deutsche Bank AG trader to a year and one day in prison on Monday on fraud charges for manipulative trading in precious metals futures, saying the scheme undermined confidence in the markets.
According to the Reuters report, U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr stated that the sentence for James Vorley, 41, from England was warranted to broadly deter other traders at banks from manipulative conduct.
He went on to say "Everyone who works in the financial markets has to be reminded and understand that attempts to manipulate the market by any means will expose them to substantial criminal sanctions,".
Prosecutors noted at trial that Vorley and his ex-colleague Cedric Chanu defrauded market participants by placing and then cancelling decoy orders to move commodities prices between 2008 and 2013.
Chanu, who is of French and Arab origin, was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on 28th June.
Avi Perry, assistant chief of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section, argued for a sentence of four years and nine months, saying the sentence was needed to deter others and restore faith in the markets.
"The conduct here perpetuates the perception and unfortunately, the reality, that our markets are unfair," he said.
Vorley and Chanu participated in a multi-year conspiracy to defraud other traders through spoofing, this is when traders are placing orders to buy or sell futures contracts that they never intended to complete, according to their indictment.
https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-06-22/Ex-Deutsche-Bank-traders-found-guilty-of-spoof-orders-in-gold-and-silver-futures-markets.html