Precious Metals Market Rigger Turns State’s Evidence
The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Clint Siegner
John Edmonds, a former VP at JPMorgan Chase, may be headed to prison for cheating clients and investors, but not before he has helped federal investigators catch even bigger fish.
Edmonds pled guilty to spoofing precious metals markets “hundreds of times with the knowledge and consent of his immediate supervisors” last October.
The court recently delayed sentencing for those crimes, likely because Edmonds is assisting in the investigation of other bankers, both within JPMorgan and elsewhere. It is the second time sentencing has been postponed.
Deutsche Bank pled guilty to cheating markets in 2016 and turned over evidence, including hundreds of thousands of documents and recorded phone calls. UBS and HSBC were also caught spoofing prices in the precious metals markets, and levied fines in January of this year.
Widespread and illegal price manipulation by the bullion banks is no longer a theory. Market have been aggregating extensive evidence of price rigging for years.
The CFTC spent years looking for silver manipulation. The investigation ended without a single banker being held to account. The evidence now available reveals just how much CFTC officials had to overlook.
The Justice Department’s criminal inquiry isn’t the only concern for bullion banks. Investors are lining up to sue in civil court based on the evidence uncovered in the ongoing crime investigations.