The British financial trader accused of contributing to a multibillion-dollar stock market crash from his parents’ home, will remain in custody after his appeal to vary his bail conditions was refused.
Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, who is fighting extradition to the US on 22 counts of fraud and commodity manipulation, has been prevented from paying his £5m bail by a worldwide freezing order. He has requested he be freed from Wandsworth prison after his parents provided £50,000 in surety.
However, in the high court in London on Wednesday, Mr Justice Cranston ruled: “I accept Mr Summers’ submission [for the US government] that until the applicant demonstrates that he has no access to any funds anywhere, so as to provide reassurance that any court in the world would want, the application is premature.”
Sarao was arrested last month after the US Department of Justice claimed he had made £27m by “spoofing” financial markets using commercially available trading software to place $200m of false trades from his home in Hounslow.
The Americans said Sarao’s supposed manipulation contributed to the so-called flash crash on 6 May 2010, when the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 600 points in five minutes, creating havoc on Wall Street.
The trader has been remanded in custody for four weeks after his arrest last month, when his bail was set at just over £5m. His lawyers had said Sarao’s trading account contained the funds, but they have since learned that his assets were subject to a freezing order which made it impossible to produce the monies.
His lawyers have asked that Sarao be freed to await a full hearing on his extradition in September, with only £50,000 provided as security by his parents. On Wednesday, Sarao’s parents also offered to provide their home in Hounslow, west London, on which they have paid the mortgage, as further security.
Sarao’s lawyers said the judge had “left the door open” for them to return to court after providing further information on Sarao’s assets.
Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, who is fighting extradition to the US on 22 counts of fraud and commodity manipulation, has been prevented from paying his £5m bail by a worldwide freezing order. He has requested he be freed from Wandsworth prison after his parents provided £50,000 in surety.
However, in the high court in London on Wednesday, Mr Justice Cranston ruled: “I accept Mr Summers’ submission [for the US government] that until the applicant demonstrates that he has no access to any funds anywhere, so as to provide reassurance that any court in the world would want, the application is premature.”
Sarao was arrested last month after the US Department of Justice claimed he had made £27m by “spoofing” financial markets using commercially available trading software to place $200m of false trades from his home in Hounslow.
The Americans said Sarao’s supposed manipulation contributed to the so-called flash crash on 6 May 2010, when the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 600 points in five minutes, creating havoc on Wall Street.
The trader has been remanded in custody for four weeks after his arrest last month, when his bail was set at just over £5m. His lawyers had said Sarao’s trading account contained the funds, but they have since learned that his assets were subject to a freezing order which made it impossible to produce the monies.
His lawyers have asked that Sarao be freed to await a full hearing on his extradition in September, with only £50,000 provided as security by his parents. On Wednesday, Sarao’s parents also offered to provide their home in Hounslow, west London, on which they have paid the mortgage, as further security.
Sarao’s lawyers said the judge had “left the door open” for them to return to court after providing further information on Sarao’s assets.
