Former JPMorgan trader allowed to hire CFTC expert in spoofing case
As the spoofing case against several former JPMorgan traders continues the Illinois Northern District Court, a dispute over expert witnesses has been resolved by the Court. According to an order signed by the Honorable Edmond E. Chang and seen by FX News Group, former head of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk Michael Nowak will be allowed to hire Jeremy Cusimano, a former employee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as an expert.
First, let’s recall that back in 2019, the DOJ launched criminal proceedings against Nowak, Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan. The indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in widespread spoofing, market manipulation and fraud while working at JPMorgan through the placement of orders they intended to cancel before execution in an effort to create liquidity and drive prices toward orders they wanted to execute on the opposite side of the market.
In this commodities-fraud prosecution, Michael Nowak intends to retain Jeremy Cusimano as an expert witness. Back in 2010, however, Cusimano was working for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and participated in an investigation in which Nowak was questioned by the CFTC. Co-defendant Christopher Jordan also was questioned by the CFTC—including directly by Cusimano—during the same investigation.
The DOJ has moved to disqualify Cusimano as a defense expert on the grounds that he would be, in effect, switching sides.
The latest Court order resolved the motion. The government’s motion was denied, though on the condition that Cusimano cannot testify that he worked on the prior investigation.
In ruling this way, the Judge noted that no confidential relationship existed between Cusimano and the Department of Justice—the federal agency that is prosecuting this case. Cusimano worked for the CFTC, an agency from which the Justice Department prosecutors have maintained a separation for purposes of the criminal investigation and prosecution.
Let’s note that Nowak has stressed that, if he elects to call Cusimano as an expert at trial, he does not intend to elicit from Cusimano any information about the CFTC Silver Investigation or about Cusimano’s participation in it, as those matters are unrelated to the subject matter of his anticipated testimony and unnecessary to establish his expertise.