Ex-Deutsche Bank traders convicted of LIBOR rigging set to be sentenced in October
Matthew Connolly and Gavin Campbell Black are poised to be sentenced on October 24, 2019.
Shortly after Judge Colleen McMahon of the New York Southern District Court dashed the hopes of former Deutsche Bank traders Matthew Connolly and Gavin Campbell Black for acquittal or a new trial in a LIBOR manipulation case, the sentencing date has been determined.
The latest filings in this case show that the sentencing of defendants Matthew Connolly and Gavin Campbell Black will be held on October 24, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. The relevant order has been signed by Judge Colleen McMahon.
Connolly and Black were convicted by a jury of conspiring to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, as well as actual substantive wire fraud in connection with a scheme to cause their employer – Deutsche Bank, to submit false and fraudulent USD LIBOR submissions to the BBA. Connolly and Black then each moved for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, for a new trial. On May 2, 2019, Judge Colleen McMahon nixed the motions.
In her Decision and Order, the Judge noted the heavy volume of evidence showing that Connolly and Black participated in the scheme to manipulate LIBOR. For example, in an email, Connolly requested: “If possible, we need in NY 1mo libor as low as possible next few days…tons of pays coming up overall… thanks!”. Or, for instance, a chat where Black asked: “can we have a high 6mth libor today pls gezzer?”
The Judge also stressed that the Jury heard evidence that the defendants asked Deutsche Bank submitters to change the bank’s submissions in line with their trading positions, from which jurors could easily infer that the Bank’s Libor submissions were not a true estimate of borrowing costs, but rather numbers manipulated for its financial gain. The evidence thus showed that Deutsche Bank’s LIBOR submissions were false and fraudulent statements because they did not actually reflect the conspirators’ estimates of the bank’s borrowing costs.
According to the Judge, the jury heard sufficient evidence to find that Deutsche Bank’s LIBOR submissions were fraudulent because each submission carried with it the implicit certification that it was determined according to the BBA’s rules – which is not what happened.
