DOJ names 34 witnesses in lawsuit against ex-JPMorgan traders

The criminal proceedings against former JPMorgan traders accused of spoofing continue at the Illinois Northern District Court. As the trial of the defendants – Gregg Smith, Michael Nowak, Jeffrey Ruffo, and Christopher Jordan, approaches, more information about the proceedings has become available.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has provided the Court with a witness list, including 34 names.

According to the document, seen by FX News Group, the DOJ expects to call the following witnesses during its case-in-chief:

• 1. Michael Bressler (JPMorgan). He will testify regarding his experience as a supervisor on the commodities sales team interacting with the defendants and other members of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk during the relevant period for the allegations in the Superseding Indictment.
• 2. Claudia Cattaneo (former JPMorgan). She will testify about her experience as a member of the commodities sales team, including certain interactions with the defendants and other members of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk in connection with barrier options.
• 3. Catherine Duffy (former JPMorgan). She will testify regarding the processes for compliance certifications and code of conduct attestations during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 4. John Edmonds (former JPMorgan). He is a cooperating witness and will testify regarding his personal involvement with the Defendants as a trader on JPMorgan’s precious metals desk.
• 5. Corey Flaum (former Bear Stearns). He is a cooperating witness and will testify regarding his personal involvement as a precious metals trader at Bear Stearns with certain of the defendants.
• 6. John Formanik. He is a victim-witness who traded precious metals futures contracts for his own investment account at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 7. Alexander Gerko. He is a victim-witness who will testify regarding GSA Capital Partners’ algorithmic trading in precious metals futures contracts at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 8. Charles (“Chad”) Graf (Blueprint Trial Consulting). He will provide testimony regarding animated depictions of trading data prepared in connection with this case.
• 9. Luisa Graziani (former BimBank). She is a victim-witness who will testify regarding her experience at Banca Intermobiliare (in connection with certain barrier options involving JPMorgan’s precious metals desk.
• 10. Christopher Jackman (Monument Economics Group). He will testify regarding CME trade data analysis undertaken in connection with this case.
• 11. Sanjay Jhamna (JPMorgan). He will testify regarding his experience with disciplinary proceedings involving one of the traders on JPMorgan’s precious metals trading desk, and his interactions with Defendant Nowak in connection with those proceedings.
• 12. Asher Joseph (JPMorgan). He will testify about his experience as a member of the commodities sales team, including certain interactions with the defendants and other members of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk in connection with barrier options.
• 13. Todd Kaneshiro (FBI). He is one of the case agents and will testify regarding his participation in the investigation and discuss various documents obtained during the investigation, among other topics.
• 14. David King (Credit Suisse). He will provide testimony concerning the compliance policies in effect at Credit Suisse during the period of Defendant Jordan’s employment in 2010.
• 15. Karl Klein. He is a victim-witness who traded precious metals futures contracts for his own investment account at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 16. Peter Leider (former CME Group). He will provide testimony regarding his role in the CME’s investigation of Defendant Smith and his views of Defendant Smith’s trading activity that was at issue in the CME’s investigation.
• 17. David Levi (JPMorgan). He will testify regarding his experience as a supervisor on the commodities sales team interacting with the Defendants and other members of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk during the relevant period for the allegations in the Superseding Indictment.
• 18. Jonathan Luca (FBI). He is one of the case agents and will testify regarding his participation in the investigation, including a consensual interview with Defendant Jordan, and discuss various documents obtained during the investigation, among other topics. He will also provide expert testimony that is limited to interpreting terms and jargon in certain e-communications.
• 19. Armand Nakkab (former JPMorgan). He will provide testimony concerning the compliance policies in effect at times during most of the period relevant to the Superseding Indictment, as well as his opinion about Defendant Smith’s trading activity that he reviewed.
• 20. David Pettey (Susquehanna International Group). He is a victim- witness who will testify regarding Susquehanna’s algorithmic trading in precious metals futures contracts at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 21. Kristen Pfeiffer (former JPMorgan). She will testify about her experience as a member of the commodities sales team, including certain interactions she had with the Defendants and other members of JPMorgan’s precious metals desk in connection with barrier options.
• 22. Gregory Rybalov. He is a victim-witness who traded precious metals futures contracts for his own investment account at certain points during the relevant period for Superseding Indictment.
• 23. John Scheerer (CME Group). He will authenticate CME Group records and will testify regarding the CME’s operations, the general mechanics of the CME’s futures markets, and precious metals futures contracts traded on CME exchanges, among other things.
• 24. Robert Sniegowski (CME Group). He will provide expert testimony regarding certain CME rules.
• 25. Christian Trunz (former JPMorgan). He is a cooperating witness and he will testify regarding his personal involvement as a precious metals trader at JPMorgan and Bear Stearns with the Defendants.
• 26. Marc Troiano (FBI). He is one of the case agents and will testify regarding his participation in the investigation and discuss various documents obtained during the investigation, among other topics.
• 27. Anand Twells (Citadel Securities). He is a victim-witness who will testify regarding Citadel’s algorithmic trading in precious metals futures contracts at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 28. Travis Varner (Quantlab Financial). He is a victim-witness who will testify regarding Quantlab’s algorithmic trading in precious metals futures contracts at certain points during the relevant period for the Superseding Indictment.
• 29. Kumar Venkataraman (Southern Methodist University). He will provide expert testimony regarding the commodities futures markets and Defendants’ trading activity.
• 30. Brian Wika (CME Group). He will provide testimony regarding his role in the CME’s investigation of Defendant Smith, and his views of Defendant Smith’s trading activity that was at issue in the CME’s investigation.
• 31. Robert Dapice (JPMorgan). He may be called to testify regarding the effect of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement that JPMorgan entered into in connection with Defendants’ actions underlying the allegations in this case.
• 32. Lisa Gaertner (FDIC). She may be called to authenticate FDIC records as well as to testify regarding JPMorgan’s status as a FDIC-insured bank.
• 33. JPMorgan Records Custodian. This witness may be called to authenticate certain JPMorgan records.
• 34. Representative for Monument Economics Group. This witness may be called to testify regarding certain data analysis undertaken in connection with this case.

Back in 2019, the DOJ launched criminal proceedings against the former JPMorgan precious metals futures traders. 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.