US Spoofing Trial Convicts Ex-JPMorgan, Credit Suisse Trader of Wire Fraud
Per Reuters
A previous JPMorgan, Credit Suisse trader is now charged with wire fraud in a US spoofing trial after initially indited but having his charges dropped in 2019. Now, Christopher Jordan, 51, was found guilty of illegal trading activity.
Jordan worked from Mar 2006 - Dec 2009 at JPMorgan and Mar 2010 - Aug 2010 at Credit Suisse. Prosecutors said that on top of deceptive orders around silver futures, he also gave investigators false information.
The former trader reportedly schemed to manipulate precious metal futures through spoofing tactics. He would reportedly place orders and then quickly cancel them to artificially inflate demand or supply.
A Chicago jury found him guilty of wire fraud after an eight-day trial his attorney argues that the decision is disappointing, describing the trader saying he was a good man. Jordan's attorney was James Benjamin.
Benjamin: "Chris Jordan is a good and honorable man who did his job in good faith."
Although now officially charged, Jordan was able to have previous charges against him dropped. In 2019, he was indicted along with Michael Nowak, another former JPMorgan global precious metals desk head, and two others.
The case was dubbed as the most aggressive move by the US Justice Department against spoofing, which charged defendants, including salesperson Jeffrey Ruffo and precious metals trader Gregg Smith from JPMorgan, with racketeering statute violations.
The law used to indict them was enacted in 1970 to have the mafia taken down. While the charges against Jordan were dropped, the Justice Department acquitted Nowak, Smith, and Ruffo of racketeering and conspiracy.
Following the incident, over $920 million in a settlement with the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was paid by JPMorgan in 2020 as the company admitted to the wrongdoing of its then trader. Jordan faces a maximum of 30 years in person, but his official sentence has yet to be given out, per the DOJ.
The FBI New York Field Office reportedly investigated the case. Per the release, Jordan reportedly placed thousands of spoof orders to drive prices. the orders were deemed false and misleading.
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