Court agrees to adjourn sentencing of former Deutsche Bank traders
Shortly after former Deutsche Bank traders James Vorley and Cedric Chanu, convicted of spoofing the precious metals futures market, pushed for postponing their sentencing, the Court has granted their motion.
On November 25, 2020, the Illinois Northern District Court issued a minute order stating that the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 21, 2021 is cancelled, and the parties will still meet for a telephonic status conference on January 21 at 1:00 p.m. CST to determine a new date for sentencing.
Let’s recall that the defendants’ request for rescheduling their sentencing was based on:
- the pending motions for judgments of acquittal and for a new trial;
- complications arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and
- the prosecution’s recent disclosure of a 28-page declaration from its trial expert, Professor Kumar Venkataraman, which purportedly includes calculations of losses to over 300 unidentified market participants resulting from 5,900 unidentified alleged “spoofing sequences” between April 2008 and 2013.
Vorley and Chanu argued that they are required to expend time and resources preparing a rebuttal to Professor Venkataraman’s declaration.
On September 25, 2020, following a two-week trial, Vorley and Chanu were convicted of three counts and seven counts, respectively, of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Specifically, the evidence showed that the defendants engaged in the practice of “spoofing,” which means that they placed orders on the exchange which, at the time the orders were placed, they did not intend to execute, all for the purpose of deceiving other market participants.