Deutsche Bank ex-trader pleads guilty to rigging Libor

[NEW YORK] A former Deutsche Bank trader has pleaded guilty in New York to manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate, according to US court documents released Wednesday.

Timothy Parietti, 50, a former Deutsche Bank managing director, pleaded guilty on May 26, to working with other bankers to rig the widely-used Libor benchmark.

Parietti submitted fraudulent information in the rate-setting process for the London Interbank Offered Rate to benefit his own and his bank's trading positions, according to prosector documents unsealed by a June 21 court order.

The guilty plea comes on the heels of numerous other criminal prosecutions of banks and bankers in the rate-fixing scandal, including a US indictment announced June 2 against two other former Deutsche Bank traders, Matthew Connolly of New Jersey and Gavin Campbell Black of London.

A third Deutsche trader, Michael Cutler of London, pleaded guilty last year to wire and bank fraud charges in the case, the Justice Department said in the June 2 announcement.

Last year Deutsche Bank agreed to pay US$2.5 billion to settle charges in the case with British and US authorities.

The probe is continuing in London as well, where more than 20 people have been charged.

AFP