This article was originally published by Clint Siegner at Activist Post.
The U.S. Department of Justice investigation of criminal activity in the precious metals markets has taken an interesting new turn.
According to Bloomberg, prosecutors are targeting the bank itself and not just the individual traders involved in rigging prices. If convicted, the bank as an institution could be held accountable for years of structured and pervasive cheating.
The DOJ investigation of JPMorgan’s metals trading desk began more than two years ago. It came on the heels of a guilty plea by Deutsche Bank.
Deutsche Bank copped to spoofing prices and agreed to turn state’s evidence. DB then handed over hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, along with chat logs and voice recordings which featured traders gleefully conspiring with one another to cheat clients and other market participants.
Officials used that trove of information and other evidence to charge six JPMorgan traders with crimes. Some already pleaded guilty and made their own agreements to cooperate with the larger investigation.
But last week’s revelations from Bloomberg are the first confirmation that the megabank is itself in the crosshairs.
Bank of America followed Deutsche Bank’s lead and moved to settle charges. The company paid fines and promised internal reforms. Many expect the extraordinarily well-connected JPMorgan Chase & Co will be granted similar leniency.
There is one interesting distinction in the DOJ’s handling of the bank, however. Officials have charged JPMorgan traders using RICO laws.
The implication is that the bank itself is to be treated as a criminal enterprise. Perhaps this time company executives will not be able to convince investigators the bank is an honest institution with the simple misfortune of having rogue criminal traders among its ranks.
JPMorgan deserves to get more than a slap on the wrist.
For many involved in the metals markets, it has been obvious for years that JPMorgan is at the center of a program to rig gold and silver prices. These cries were long dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Today few can dispute there has been pervasive, well-orchestrated cheating over nearly a decade, if not much longer.
We now know at least some officials inside the Department of Justice agree. They view the bank’s activities as organized crime, like the mafia.
It remains to be seen whether actual charges will be brought against the bank. So far, only individuals have been charged. Given the bank’s power and influence, there is no certainty justice will prevail, even if the evidence is overwhelming.
Finally, there is no certainty as to whether any penalties will be commensurate with the crime. Individual criminals on Wall Street may have been banned from trading and bankrupted by fines. However, it would be unprecedented for a bank the size of JPMorgan to receive a trading ban or fines large enough to meaningfully impact the bank’s operations.
The road to full accountability for JPMorgan remains long and full of obstacles. But it is certainly nice to see prosecutors treating the bank without the usual kid gloves.
Clint Siegner is a Director at Money Metals Exchange, a precious metals dealer recently named “Best in the USA” by an independent global ratings group. A graduate of Linfield College in Oregon, Siegner puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personal liberty, limited government, and honest money into the development of Money Metals’ brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullion markets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.
The fact that JPM also leased a Dutch ship importing heroin, that was recently twice convicted by DEA officials of importing drugs, may have been a heads up to some as to the level, severity, and nature of precisely how corrupt JPM and Wall St. are, if the faked 9/11 attacks was not proof enough!
JD says that he would like to use crypto-currencies to evade burdensome regulations, like a paper trail that proves that importing heroin is part of the white collar criminal operation!
They out their own snitches, prosecute their own strongmen over the use of force, and accuse their own marketmakers of price fixing. State actors are feeding that fascistic crocodile, hoping to be the last to get eaten.
You can measure it in wampum shells, the salt salary, or as beads on an abacus. The price of metals can be paired to groundwater, farmland, and contraband. Spot price is arbitrary, even when set firmly in the Constitution. They are dogs eating the other dog; not defending the sanctity of the market.
Isn’t Uncle JP one of the fed banks? Bite the hand that feeds? We’ll see but in the meantime buy silver it’s cheap. Make it a part of every payday. If people weren’t so stupid they would have saved in metals instead of 401k’s back in 08 and 11. They would have made 5-10 times their money back instead of losing their arses. Silver is going to go up again a lot so get some now or drag yer knuckles and cry about how you lost it all again lol.
Time for some of my poetry 🙂
Trader Bob bought some stocks
Stashed in a safe with many locks
“I’ll be rich” he’d always say
Against all odds he’d make his play
I’ll retire and live the dream
The market seemed to go full steam
Then one day it all went down
And his portfolio ate the ground
His worthless papers were no good
He never listened like he should
Now a broke and homeless man
The victim of a foolish plan
He sat and cried “it’s all so cruel”
A broken, sad and desperate fool…..
AND THIS ONE….
Patriot Bob had an IRA
I’ll have enough to retire he’d say
With deffered taxes and all the rest
No one can touch my safety nest
He’d file his paperwork every year
Confident that he had no fear
Then one day it all went down
The economy crashed into the ground
The Govt. froze all assets
To cover all the banks bad bets
A paper trail led straight to Bob
Made it easy for them to rob
With nothing left he went to his shelf
Grabbed his gun and shot himself…
AND THIS ONE…..
Bitcoin Bob had a big stash
Put all his eggs in cryptocash
Riding the wave up to the top
He thought for sure it never would stop
“I will live just like a king
With big mansions full of bling”
Although it was made from thin air
In his blindness he didn’t care
With global tensions on the rise
An EMP hit by suprise
It took down all the internet
With shaking hands he began to sweat
Sure enough it disappeared
Something that he never feared
On his couch full of tear stains
With his gun blew out his brains…
Women did not evolve to be capable of recognizing external threats to the tribe or limitations on resources and any tribe that gives women the right to vote will collapse. Islam is right about women. That’s why they are conquering Europe even with IQs of 80.
You sound like a buffoon, but I will not be voting, not because I am not qualified to vote, but because everyone that is running for office is not qualified for office.
If you wish to vote to give a corrupt jack ass power over you, your life, and your family, then I would argue that you are not qualified to vote.
Everyone that is running is involved in rampant corruption and the cover-up of corruption. Are you blind?! Or are you corrupt?!
Genius, good poems man. What happened to this site?
Parasites in suits.
Big Banks during the 1st half of 19th Century established a Trust chiefly from grants to the railroads representing a lean on the People and then charge interest-rent on it… This presented them with free wealth!
People have been programmed to believe that rich Elite are the only ones who can help them. Anything other than this System is claimed as a ‘cult.’ The System is the religious-belief Cult and the People will fight and die in wars to protect and continue it!
The American Revolutionary War win became null and void. The Corporate City of London rules from behind the scenes via commerce codes… guaranteed by Bar Association & backed up by police powers & military industrial complex.
The DOJ will send them a strongly worded reprimand.
Let us know when they send a strongly worded arrest warrant.