Two former employees of Deutsche Bank have recently been found guilty by a Chicago federal jury of fraud charges for their participation in fraudulent and manipulative trading practices for commodity trading, a statement from the United States Department of Justice said.
According to the statement on Friday, James Vorley, 42, of the United Kingdom, and Cedric Chanu, 40, of France and the United Arab Emirates, were found guilty of fraud charges related to their practices involving publicly-traded precious metals futures contracts.
Vorley and Chanu were convicted of three counts and seven counts respectively, of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Sentencing will take place before District Judge, John J. Tharp, Jr. of the Northern District of Illinois, who presided over the trial, on 21st January 2021.
Specifically, the evidence presented at trial said that Vorley was employed by Deutsche Bank and based in London, whilst Chano was based in the German lender’s London and Singapore offices.
Former Deutsche Bank Employees Tried to Defraud Traders on Commodity Exchange Inc.
During their employment, the two engaged in a scheme to defraud traders on the Commodity Exchange Inc., run by the CME Group. Specifically, the defendants placed fraudulent orders that they did not plan on executing to create the appearance of false supply and demand.
According to the evidence, this was done to push traders to trade at prices, quantities and times that they would not have traded at if not for the deception. This practice is known as Spoofing .
Commenting on the verdict, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the statement: “Today’s jury verdict shows that those who seek to manipulate our public financial markets through fraud will be held accountable by juries and the department.”
The case involving the former Deutsche Bank employees was investigated by the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Prosecuting the case are Deputy Chief, Brian Young, Assistant Chief, Avi Perry, and Trial Attorney, Leslie S. Garthwaite of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
