28/08/2013
Whale of London: One of two wanted traders arrested
One of two former traders at JPMOrgan Chase who are wanted in the United States on suspicion of concealing losses of nearly USD6bn in the While of London scandal has been arrested in Madrid, the Spanish police announced on 27 August, AFP reports. The police arrested a Spanish citizen wanted by the United Staates for fraud and financial crimes in Madrid, the police said in a statement, adding that he will appear before a preliminary hearing. The suspect arrested was Javier Martin-Artajo Rueda, AFP has learned from a police source. On the authority of an international arrest warrant, the Spanish police were able to locate the person sought by the US police, and after talks with them, he agreed to voluntarily present himself at a police station, where he was arrested, the police have explained. The US authorities began proceedings on 14 August against Martin-Artajo, who had been head of brokerage strategy at an investment department of JPMorgan, and the Frenchman Julien Grout, one of his subordinates. They are accused of having conspired to falsify accounts at the largest US bank in order to conceal losses at their unit, which accumulated into the hundreds of millions of US dollars. Grout, a trader at the London office of the proprietary investments department (CIO) at JPMorgan Chase, aged 35, has been charged with the preparation of daily internal balance sheets of losses and profits in credit derivatives at his department, largely positions taken by his superior Bruno Iksil.
