Tag: Benczkowski

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Official: Brian Benczkowski

Official, People

Brian Allen Benczkowski (born October 5, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Prior to assuming that role, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

Benczkowski received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 1991. He attended the Washington University School of Law, where he was an associate editor of the Washington University Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law. He received his Juris Doctor in 1994. Continue reading “Official: Brian Benczkowski”

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Article: Bank of America Eroded U.S. Spoof Case, Laying Path for JPMorgan

Article - Media

Bank of America Eroded U.S. Spoof Case, Laying Path for JPMorgan

Tom Schoenberg

Bloomberg, 20 February 2020

Bank of America Corp.’s lawyers came through big for their client last year when they whittled down a U.S. case over precious metals spoofing.

Justice Department prosecutors wanted to bring criminal charges, but bank lawyers asked for none and prevailed. Prosecutors named Bank of America throughout the draft settlement document but not in the final version.

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Article: Russian Nationals Charged With Series of Hacking and Bank Fraud Offenses

Article - Media, Publications

Russian Nationals Charged With Series of Hacking and Bank Fraud Offenses

Security Magazine, 05 December 2019

The US, through its Departments of Justice and State, and the UK, through its National Crime Agency (NCA), announced the unsealing of criminal charges in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Lincoln, Nebraska, against Maksim V. Yakubets, aka online moniker, “aqua,” 32, of Moscow, Russia, related to two separate international computer hacking and bank fraud schemes spanning from May 2009 to the present. A second individual, Igor Turashev, 38, from Yoshkar-Ola, Russia, was also indicted in Pittsburgh for his role related to the “Bugat” malware conspiracy. Continue reading “Article: Russian Nationals Charged With Series of Hacking and Bank Fraud Offenses”

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Article: JPMorgan’s Metals Desk Was a Criminal Enterprise, U.S. Says

Article - Media

JPMorgan’s Metals Desk Was a Criminal Enterprise, U.S. Says

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Bloomberg

  • U.S. invokes racketeering law in charging three metals traders
  • RICO statute is rarely used in cases involving big banks

The head of the bank’s global precious metals desk, Michael Nowak, 45, and two others ripped off market participants and even clients as they illegally moved prices for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, the Justice Department said Monday. Nowak was placed on leave last month, a person familiar with the matter has said. The other traders charged were Gregg Smith, 55 and Christopher Jordan, 47.

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Article: Three J.P. Morgan precious metals traders charged as criminal probe continues

Article - Media

Three J.P. Morgan precious metals traders charged as criminal probe continues

Dawn Giel

CNBC, 16 September 2019

Federal prosecutors on Monday accused three J.P. Morgan precious metals traders, including the global head of base and precious metals trading, of participating in a racketeering conspiracy in connection with a multiyear scheme to manipulate the markets and defraud customers.

The alleged scheme saw the nation’s largest bank by assets profit handsomely, while investors suffered losses.

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Article: MERRILL LYNCH CAUGHT CRIMINALLY MANIPULATING PRECIOUS METALS MARKET OVER 6 YEARS

Article - Media, Publications

MERRILL LYNCH CAUGHT CRIMINALLY MANIPULATING PRECIOUS METALS MARKET OVER 6 YEARS

GOLDBROKER, 26 June 2019

Remember when it was pure tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory to accuse one or more banks of aggressively, compulsively and systematically manipulating the precious metals – i.e., gold and silver – market? We do, after all we made the claim over and over, while demonstrating clearly just how said manipulation was taking place, often in real time.

Well, it’s always good to be proven correct, even if it is years after the fact. Continue reading “Article: MERRILL LYNCH CAUGHT CRIMINALLY MANIPULATING PRECIOUS METALS MARKET OVER 6 YEARS”

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Release: Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Release

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

DOJ, 25 June 2019

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. (MLCI), a global commodities trading business, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the government’s investigation into a multi-year scheme by MLCI precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX), announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office.

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Article: Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Article - Media, Publications

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, 25 June 2019

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. (MLCI), a global commodities trading business, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the government’s investigation into a multi-year scheme by MLCI precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX), announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office. Continue reading “Article: Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets”

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