Former City trader’s rate rigging conviction overturned
A former City trader previously convicted of rigging the Euribor interest rates has had his fraud conviction overturned.
Christian Bittar, formerly a trader at Deutsche Bank, had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal on Friday after being sentenced to five years in prison for rigging the primary European interest rate, the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), in the run-up to the financial crisis. He previously pleaded guilty to the charge.
“For reasons we will set out at a later date, this conviction has been quashed,” Lord Justice Edis told the court.
The decision comes just over a year after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn a similar ruling on former UBS trader Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, formerly of Barclays, last year, after finding they had been “deprived” of a fair trial as the judges had given “inaccurate and unfair” directions to the juries which found the traders guilty.
The two former City traders became the faces of the so-called ‘Libor scandal’ which saw the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) pursue a volley of prosecutions in the wake of the 2008 crash.
However, in Bittar’s appeal, he claimed he had pleaded guilty on the wrong legal basis, and brought his appeal after the Supreme Court overturned Hayes’ and Palombo’s convictions.
Speaking after the hearing, Hayes told City AM: “I’m overwhelmed because it’s been a long, long journey, and I’ve been fighting for all of us, not just me.
“The fact that now somebody who pleaded guilty has had their conviction deemed unsafe by the Court of Appeal is a huge step towards correcting all the injustices that took place in this series of cases,” he added.
The latest decision comes after five former City traders, Jay Merchant, Jonathan Mathew, Philippe Moryoussef, Alex Pabon and Colin Bermingham, previously convicted of rigging the Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) and Euribor interest rates had their fraud convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, all of whom pleaded not guilty.
The five investment bankers, who previously worked at Barclays, had their convictions quashed having served jail-time for conspiring to rig the now-defunct Libor interest rates in the run-up to the financial crisis.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred the cases to the court in January after the fraud watchdog, which brought the prosecutions over a decade ago, said it would not seek a retrial against Hayes and Palombo.
“I have waited a very, very long time for this day. Finally, the injustice of what I and others suffered has been recognised. I am so grateful for those who stood by me through this ordeal and those who worked so tirelessly to correct it,” Bittar commented after the hearing.
Ben Rose, of Hickman and Rose, representing Bittar, said it “is significant that the Court of Appeal today quashed Christian’s conviction in face of opposition from the SFO.”
“The decision to quash Christian’s guilty plea illustrates the severity of the injustice he suffered. Courts are naturally reluctant to set aside guilty pleas, so I am delighted that the Court of Appeal agreed that, exceptionally, it should do so in this case,” Rose said.
“It is a scandal that the SFO has consistently failed to uphold its duty to seek to ensure that these trials are fair. It is hard to see how it will learn the lessons it needs to of this saga until it accepts it was wrong,” he said.
‘The last chapter’ in the rates-rigging scandal
Bittar is the last of the group of former traders who have had their appeals heard.
“Some of us lived that history. It’s quite something to be here today in the last chapter of it,” Bittar’s barrister told the court.
However, the ninth and last former trader who was pursued by the SFO, Peter Johnson, formerly of Barclays and the original whistleblower in the rates-rigging scandal, is in the early stages of an appeal, Lord Justice Edis confirmed to the court on Friday. Like Bittar, Johnson also pled guilty, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
“The quashing of these convictions is welcome news and another important step on the way to correcting this terrible miscarriage of justice,” Ellen Gallagher, partner at Vardags, who represents Johnson, said.
“But Peter’s fight to clear his name continues, and he intends to appeal. As the Court made clear today, he has taken the first steps towards that appeal by filing provisional grounds.
“We await the Court’s fully reasoned decision on this week’s appeals and are considering next steps,” Gallagher said.
Jason Williams, head of division at the SFO said in a statement: “We argued for a different outcome but respect the court’s decision in relation to Christian Bittar. The SFO remains committed to tackling the most complex fraud, bribery and corruption.”
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.