Libor trader receives 14-year sentence for rate rigging

A former financial trader was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison for his role in rigging the benchmark interest rate known as the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).

Tom Hayes, a 35-year old former trader with UBS Group and Citigroup, was found guilty by a London jury for fraudulently manipulated the rate for profit, according to Bloomberg.

{mosads}A number of banks have paid out record sums to settle charges that their employees conspired to manipulate the rate, which serves as a benchmark for a host of other financial products. But Hayes’s conviction marks the first time an individual trader is being sent to jail for the activity.

Prosecutors depicted Hayes as a “ringleader” in the scheme, working with traders at a host of other firms to push the rate in directions that would generate maximum profits. A jury found Hayes guilty by a unanimous verdict, following a week of deliberations.

Hayes granted investigators hours of interviews detailing his role in the activity, cooperating with British investigators out of fear he could be extradited to the U.S. where he faced heftier charges. Speaking with the U.K. Serious Fraud Office in 2013, Hayes depicted a world where rate rigging was commonplace, but he was a frequent offender.

“I probably deserve to be sitting here because, you know, I made concerted efforts to influence Libor,” he said in a February 2013 interview. “Although I was operating within a system or participating within a system in which it was commonplace, you know, ultimately I was someone who was a serial offender.”

Hayes had a change of heart later on, pleading not guilty when facing trial and claiming he exagerrated his role to avoid extradition.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Hayes, who was recently diagnoised with Asperberger’s syndrome, was open about his activity.

“All my managers knew. I had no reason to think that it was wrong,” he said during July 10 testimony.

Other traders are still awaiting trial.