Article: CFTC Obtains Another Guilty Plea of Market Manipulation, Makes Criminal Referral

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CFTC Obtains Another Guilty Plea of Market Manipulation, Makes Criminal Referral

Levi McAllister, Patrick R. Pennella, 31 March 2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced last week that it has obtained another admission from a trader of violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, demonstrating its continued aggressive enforcement of its market anti-manipulation provisions.

Emilio José Heredia Collado (Heredia) of Lafayette, California, admitted to engaging in the manipulation of a US price-assessment benchmark relating to physical fuel oil products for more than four years while employed as a fuel oil trader for a trading company. The CFTC imposed a permanent ban from trading commodity interests or engaging in other related activities and a $100,000 civil monetary penalty and made a criminal referral to the US Department of Justice. Continue reading “Article: CFTC Obtains Another Guilty Plea of Market Manipulation, Makes Criminal Referral”

Article: Former Glencore oil trader pleads guilty to market manipulation charges

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Former Glencore oil trader pleads guilty to market manipulation charges

Chris Prentice,  29 March 2021

A former Glencore Plc fuel oil trader pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $100,000 to settle charges of market manipulation of a key U.S. pricing benchmark, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.

Emilio José Heredia Collado admitted to a multiyear conspiracy to manipulate the fuel oil market, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Heredia agreed to a lifetime ban and a civil penalty of $100,000 to settle parallel charges filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

From as early as June 2012 to at least August 2016, Heredia and others at Glencore sought to boost their profits from oil trading by manipulating prices, U.S. officials said.

A Glencore spokesperson said the firm is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

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Article: Ex-Glencore Trader Pleads Guilty to Manipulating Oil Prices

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Ex-Glencore Trader Pleads Guilty to Manipulating Oil Prices

Joel Rosenblatt, Malathi Nayak and Javier Blas, 25 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — A former Glencore Plc trader pleaded guilty to manipulating an oil price benchmark, allowing the world’s largest commodities trader to profit from the price swings and enriching himself.Emilio Heredia appeared by video conference on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco and admitted to a conspiracy in which he directed buy and sell orders that pushed fuel oil prices up and down.

Heredia, 49, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Justice Department lawyer Matthew Sullivan told the judge that Heredia, who became a naturalized citizen in 2016, could lose his immigration status and be removed from the U.S. But Sullivan also said Heredia had agreed to cooperate with the government as it investigates further.

Glencore has said it is cooperating with authorities. Continue reading “Article: Ex-Glencore Trader Pleads Guilty to Manipulating Oil Prices”

Article: CFTC hits former fuel-oil trader with $100,000 penalty for market manipulation

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CFTC hits former fuel-oil trader with $100,000 penalty for market manipulation

Reuters, 25 March 2021

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has settled charges against a former fuel oil trader for market manipulation, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.

Emilio José Heredia Collado admitted to manipulating, and attempting to manipulate, a U.S. fuel oil benchmark. The CFTC hit Heredia with a $100,000 civil penalty and permanently banned him from trading commodity interests, the statement said.

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Article: Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices

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Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices

Dave Michaels, 23 March 2021

WASHINGTON—A former oil trader at mining company Glencore PLC was charged with manipulating fuel oil prices, in a case that echoes claims investigated in Europe seven years ago.

The ex-trader, Emilio Heredia, was charged under a document that prosecutors typically use when a defendant is to plead guilty. He is to be arraigned Tuesday in San Francisco federal court on one count of conspiracy related to trading through a process managed by oil-price benchmark publisher S&P Global Platts. Mr. Heredia directed other traders to submit orders that would push up or down prices, to engineer a move that would improve the profitability of other transactions in physical fuel oil, according to the charging document filed in court last week. Continue reading “Article: Former Glencore Oil Trader Charged With Manipulation of Fuel Prices”

Article: Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam

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Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam

THOMAS BIESHEUVEL AND JAVIER BLAS, 23 March 2021

(Bloomberg) –A former Glencore Plc trader was charged by U.S. authorities with conspiracy to manipulate a key oil price benchmark, the latest sign that prosecutors around the world are stepping up their scrutiny of the notoriously opaque commodity trading industry.

U.S. prosecutors alleged that Emilio Heredia, a former Glencore employee, directed buy and sell orders that would push fuel oil prices up and down. That allowed the companies he worked for to profit from the price swings, between 2012 and 2016, according to a filing at a U.S. District Court in San Francisco on March 15.

The investigation is the latest legal setback for Glencore, already embroiled in a wide-ranging probe by the U.S. Department of Justice on allegations of bribery and money laundering. The UK, Swiss and Brazilian authorities are also investigating the commodity trader. Continue reading “Article: Former Glencore trader charged in global oil price manipulation scam”

Article: Bay Area oil company executive charged with market manipulation

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Bay Area oil company executive charged with market manipulation

NATE GARTRELL, 22 March 2021

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors in the Bay Area have charged a local resident with conspiracy to manipulate the oil market, a crime that prosecutors say was committed while he was a vice president at an oil company.

Emilio Collado, aka Emilio Heredia, was charged earlier this month with a single count of conspiracy. The charging records allege that since 1998, Collado worked at two oil companies, one of which bought out the other one in 2014. The companies are referred to in court records not by their names but as “Company A” and “Company B.”

The charging records allege that Collado and unnamed co-conspirators deliberately misled price assessors toward oil prices “that did not reflect legitimate forces of supply and demand.” Collado allegedly manipulated the prices depending on his company’s needs; when they were selling, the manipulated price went high, and when they were buying, it went low, prosecutors allege.

For instance, on Aug. 24, 2016, Collado allegedly shifted the price per metric ton of oil down by roughly $40, “resulting in an unlawful gain of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Company B” on that day alone, the charging records say.

Collado is set to appear in court Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer for a change of plea hearing. Generally, change of plea hearings are set when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty or no contest to a charge, though no plea deals have been announced in Collado’s case.

If he’s convicted, Collado faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, court records show

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