LONDON: A British trader accused of spoofing the US financial markets has lost a court battle against extradition to the US. Thirty-seven-year-old Navinder Sarao from Hounslow will be flown to the US within the next month to face market manipulation charges. He has been charged with 22 offences that come with a maximum sentence of 380 years.
Sarao – who did not attend the High Court ruling on October 14 – is accused of placing false orders (over a five-year period) using an automatic system to create an impression of demand, pushing prices up. US authorities claim he earned up to £33m, through his activities. The charges cover the day of the Flash Crash in 2010, when the S&P derivatives market destabilised, triggering a brief $1 trillion plunge in the stock markets, before prices abruptly recovered.
A flash crash is a very rapid, deep, and volatile fall in security prices occurring within an extremely short time period. The ruling on Friday has exhausted his legal avenues to fight extradition.
