FX Cartel traders demand access to statements made by US Government chief witness

Maria Nikolova

The defendants in a Forex manipulation lawsuit ask the Court to compel the US Government to assist them in accessing statements made by the Government’s chief cooperating witness to UK, Australian and South Korean regulators.

Former Forex traders Richard Usher, Rohan Ramchandani, and Christopher Ashton, who stand accused of conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for US Dollars and Euros in the FX spot market, are asking the New York Southern District Court to assist them in obtaining access to statements made the US Government chief cooperating witness to overseas regulators.

In a Letter, dated November 16, 2017, the defendants, also known as “FX Cartel” or “FX Mafia” asked Honorable Richard M. Berman to compel the US Government to help them access statements by the chief witness to the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Australia Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), and Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC).

On October 30, 2017, in response to an inquiry by the defendants, the US Government claimed that it did not participate in the interviews involving the foreign regulators, and that it does not possess “any written or recorded memorialization of any statements the Cooperating Witness made to these authorities.” Also, the US Government stated during a further meet-and-confer on Monday, November 13, that it remains unwilling to ask the SFO, ACCC, or the KFTC for the Cooperating Witness’s statements.

The defendants now ask that the Court order the Government to request these records from the SFO, ACCC, and KFTC, or from the Cooperating Witness or banks with which it has reached plea agreements, and to produce them when it receives them, in the interests of fundamental fairness and judicial efficiency.

The defendants note that the US Government and its Cooperating Witness have signed a cooperation and non-prosecution agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the Cooperating Witness has a continuing obligation to “cooperate fully and truthfully” with the Government. This includes a duty to produce all documents in the Cooperating Witness’s possession, custody, or control, requested by attorneys and agents of the Government in connection with any Federal Proceeding.

The defendants emphasize the importance of this evidence to the defense: The Cooperating Witness has provided statements (including in certain circumstances, we understand, sworn statements under oath) to the three regulators and those regulators subsequently found no antitrust violations in the same conduct at issue here—with the SFO explaining that “a detailed review of the available evidence led us to the conclusion that the alleged conduct, even if proven and taken at its highest, would not meet the evidential test required to mount a prosecution.”

According to the defendants, these facts suggest that the Cooperating Witness’s testimony contains exculpatory and impeaching statements.

The US Government is also said to be able to easily obtain this evidence, whereas the Defendants cannot. At a minimum, they say, the Government can certainly ask its counterparts whether they would provide the Cooperating Witness’s statements.

The case, captioned USA v. Usher et al (1:17-cr-00019), continues at the New York Southern District Court. The former traders have recently asked the Court to reschedule the date of their trial as the volume of evidence associated with the case continues to grow.

Usher, former Head of G11 FX Trading-UK at an affiliate of Royal Bank of Scotland plc, as well as former Managing Director at an affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Ramchandani, former Managing Director and head of G10 FX spot trading at an affiliate of Citicorp, and Ashton, former Head of Spot FX at an affiliate of Barclays PLC, are alleged to have conspired to manipulate the FX market by “coordinating their bidding, offering, and trading” at “certain times.”

Read this next

Digital Assets

Sam Bankman-Fried might see his 25-year sentence halved

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by a Manhattan court on Thursday. This comes after he was convicted of defrauding customers and investors, with Judge Lewis Kaplan highlighting the potential future risks posed by Bankman-Fried.

Technical Analysis

EURJPY Technical Analysis Report 28 March, 2024

EURJPY currency pair under the bearish pressure after the pair reversed down from the major resistance level 164.25, which also stopped the sharp weekly uptrend at the end of last year,

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Hits $9.9M, MultiversX & MINA Price Predictions Show Green

Read about BlockDAG’s promising $10 prediction and insights on MultiversX Price Prediction as MINA’s potential unfolds.

Digital Assets

Rockstar Co-Founder and All-star Line Up Join Advisory Board to Take Metacade into Post Beta Orbit

Metacade, the revolutionary Web3 gaming platform, prepares to streak out of beta with a slew of ground-breaking initiatives that will redefine the way blockchain games are developed.

Retail FX

Prop firm The Funded Trader shuts down, claims relaunch in April

Prop trading firm The Funded Trader has ceased all operations, with claims for a relaunch in the near future.

Digital Assets

Ethereum-Based Tokenized Real Estate Platform USP Launches On Republic

How This Californian Startup Is Revolutionizing Real Estate Investment through Ethereum-Based Tokenization.

Digital Assets

Sui Spikes in Weekly DEX Volume, Joins Top 10 of All Blockchains

March DEX volume on Sui stands at over $2.88B – up more than 49% from February – with decentralized exchange Cetus and wholesale liquidity layer DeepBook leading.

Digital Assets

Prisma Finance suffers $10 million crypto exploit, attack ongoing

Liquid staking protocol Prisma Finance fell victim to a security exploit on March 28, resulting in nearly $10 million in Prisma mkUSD and wrapped stETH being stolen by hackers.

Digital Assets

Masa and LayerZero: Bridging Blockchains for Data Sovereignty

Masa Network is poised to revolutionize the personal data landscape with its upcoming launch as a cross-chain platform, making it accessible on a variety of blockchains right from the start.

<