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British ‘Flash Crash’ Mastermind Fights Extradition Charges
After the United States faced one of the biggest stock market crashes in 2010, the mastermind behind the trillion-dollar loss was Britain's very own Navinder Singh Sarao, who became known as the "Flash Crash Trader."
Flash forward to nearly five years after the 2010 Flash Crash, and Sarao now faces 22 criminal counts of fraud and market manipulation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 37-year-old British financial trader faces accusations of helping trigger the multi-billion-dollar Wall Street "Flash Crash" that happened on May 6, 2010. He's now fighting extradition to the United States.
Photo Credit: Strait Times
His charges are a long list of wire fraud, commodities fraud, market manipulation and "spoofing," which is a bidding practice that intends to cancel the bid before its execution.
These charges can carry sentences totalling up to 380 years in prison.
Photo Credit: The New Yorker
Sarao's lawyer, however, claims that he didn't break any laws. He believes that if the courts find Sarao guilty of a crime, many financial traders should also be considered criminals.
James Lewis QC, the lawyer representing Sarao, stated, "The key question for this court is whether the conduct of Mr. Sarao amounts to a crime in the UK." He added, "There's no English crime of 'spoofing.' To put it bluntly, if you uphold that as criminal activity in England, thousands of traders would be treated as criminals."
Photo Credit: City AM
The infamous trader profited by $875,000 U.S. on the day of the crash, which made the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge by a whopping 600 points in five minutes, clearing a billion pounds off the value of the U.S. shares.
Mark Summers QC, the legal representative for the U.S. government, told the courts that Sarao earned an additional $4 million U.S. in August 2011 and illegally profited by a total of $40 million U.S. over five years.
"The prosecution allegation is that the trade he engaged in is what is known as spoofing. Spoofing is market manipulation. It is dishonest trading," Summers told the court.
Courtroom Sketch of Navinder Singh Sarao
Photo Credit: The Wall Street Journal
Photo Credit: The Wall Street Journal
Sarao, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, sported dark grey and sat with his head bowed throughout the entire court hearing.
District Judge Quentin Purdy delayed the judgement of the case until March 23, leaving Sarao on specific bail conditions until his next court appearance.
Main Image Photo Credit: The Telegraph
Nicole Singh
Author
Nicole is a bilingual professional with a journalism background who adores everything to do with fashion, culture, and Bollywood. She always had a passion for writing since a young age and decided to follow that dream. She has a sense of working in the field through news publications writt...
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