CHICAGO - Former Deutsche Bank commodities trader David Liew told a Chicago jury he learned how to manipulate gold and silver prices from the two successful senior traders he admired and worked with for about three years.
"I saw Mr Vorley and Mr Chanu do it," Liew, a graduate of the London School of Economics and the prosecution's star witness, said on Wednesday in US federal court. In one of several trades Liew described in detail, he worked with Vorley on Aug 26, 2010, to push up gold prices. Liew became so familiar with spamming that he could tell when his colleagues were doing it. One day, he noticed Chanu was making such a trade, and Liew sent him a message saying,"be careful ... don't let the buy orders get into the market," according to a chat log and Liew's testimony.
QUESTIONING INTENT During cross-examination, defense lawyers sought to discredit the claim that Chanu and Vorley intentionally canceled trades. Liew acknowledged that there might be all sorts of situations that would result in a cancellation, including if the trader goes to lunch or the bathroom.