US govt makes effort to obtain key evidence in Forex manipulation case
The effort concerns the statements made by the US Government’s chief cooperating witness to a foreign regulatory authority.
The Forex manipulation case against three former FX traders – Richard Usher, Rohan Ramchandani, and Christopher Ashton, continues to develop at the New York Southern District Court, with certain pieces of evidence once again at the heart of the proceedings.
On Friday, December 1, 2017, the United States Government submitted a Letter with Judge Berman, saying that a good faith effort had been made to obtain evidence demanded by the defendants. The defendants allege that the Government’s chief cooperating witness has made statements to the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC).
The statements by this witness are seen as very important by the defendants in the case. According to them, the witness has provided statements to the three regulators and those regulators subsequently found no antitrust violations in the same conduct at issue in the case—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.” The defendants say that these facts suggest that the witness’s testimony contains exculpatory and impeaching statements.
The defendants have asked 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.
The US Government said on Friday that it had asked counsel for the cooperating witness, as well as counsel for that witness’s former employer, to provide to the Government any verbatim or near verbatim memorialization of the witness’s statement in counsel’s possession. Both counsel have advised the Government that they are considering the request.
In their previous letter submitted with the Court on November 22, 2017, the US Government said that a counsel for the cooperating witness may possess an unofficial copy of the statement that the cooperating witness made to the ACCC. If counsel confirms that they in fact possess such a copy, the Government will request that counsel provide that copy to the Government. Whether the latest update concerns this “unofficial copy” is unclear.
Earlier, the US Department of Justice stated that it had not conducted any joint investigation into the FX spot market with the SFO, ACCC, and KFTC. Rather, the US investigation was done in parallel to the UK, Australian and Korean investigations. The Government has asked the Court to deny the defendants’ requests.
The US Government accuses the three former FX traders, also known as FX Cartel or FX Mafia, of conspiring to “suppress and eliminate competition” in the global FX market through coordinating their bidding, offering, and trading. All three defendants are residents of the United Kingdom. They were currency traders for banks in London with customers in Europe.
The case is captioned USA v. Usher et al (1:17-cr-00019).
