About a fortnight after a Chicago federal jury found James Vorley and Cedric Chanu guilty of fraud charges for their roles in manipulative trading practices involving precious metals futures contracts, the former Deutsche Bank traders have made it clear that they will seek a new trial.

On October 9, 2020, the defendants filed a motion with the Illinois Northern District Court. The document, seen by FX News Group, says that James Vorley and Cedric Chanu move for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33.

There are no details about the reasons for the motion at this moment. The document adds, however, that the defendants will submit their memoranda in support of both Rule 29 and Rule 33 motions by November 6, 2020.

Let’s recall that, 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.

According to evidence presented at trial, Vorley and Chanu engaged in a scheme to defraud other traders on the Commodity Exchange Inc., which was an exchange run by the CME Group. The defendants defrauded other traders by placing fraudulent orders that they did not intend to execute in order to create the appearance of false supply and demand and to induce other traders to trade at prices, quantities, and times that they otherwise would not have traded.

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.