By JOSEPH MODICA
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan arraigned a trio of traders called “The Cartel” on Thursday on charges of a conspiracy to fix prices OF the dollar and euro and rigging bids in a financial-fraud crackdown that already has four international banks paying $2.5 billion in fines.
The three bankers, Richard Usher, former head of a trading firm with The Royal Bank of Scotland; Rohan Ramchandani, former managing director and head of G10 FX spot trading affiliated with Citicorp; and Christopher Ashton, former head of an currency exchange at Barclay’s were charged in January and made a deal to surrender to US officials from the UK to face charges.
The group is accused of using private chat rooms and telephones from Dec. 2007 to Jan. 2013 where they were nicknamed “The Cartel” to gain an unfair advantage in the global money-exchange market by coordinating their trades with each other to manipulate currency prices, said the justice department. The trio faces up to 10 years in jail and a $1 million in fines, with the possibility a higher fine depending on victim’s losses and the profits the accused made. In total, six people have been charged in connection with the crime.
Federal authorities have amassed 148,000 audio recordings totaling 2000 hours in evidence against the defendants.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, Citicorp, Barclays PLC and JPMorgan Chase previously pleaded guilty in May 2015 to conspiracy charges for fixing prices and rigging bids.
The trial was expected to begin on June 4, 2018.
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