Nymex executive face fraud charges
Published:Wednesday | April 9, 2008 | 2:56 PM
A former Director of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Nymex, is now facing imprisonment after he admitted to fraud linked to commodities trading.
Nymex is the world\'s leading trading exchange for oil and precious metals.
Steven Karvellas has pleaded guilty to the offences in a plea bargain that will see him jailed for five months.
Between 2002 and 2003, Karvellas reportedly delayed customer orders to buy or sell natural gas contracts, until he could see whether the market was rising or falling.
Court documents showed that when the market price moved to make an order profitable immediately, he put the contracts in his own name, rather than the customer\'s.
Karvellas agreed to pay fines and penalties of US$850,000.
Three other Nymex commodities traders also admitted to the fraud charges, while a further three people have been arrested
.