A lawyer representing Navinder Singh Sarao, the U.K. trader arrested on charges of manipulating futures prices and contributing to the market "flash-crash" in 2010, said the 5 million pound ($7.7 million) bail set by U.K. judges was illegal because Mr. Sarao's assets have been frozen.
"As it stands, it is impossible and illegal to meet the [bail] conditions," said solicitor Richard Egan, speaking to reporters after a court hearing in London on Tuesday. Mr. Egan said he would keep fighting for a review of the conditions set for the trader's temporary release.
Mr. Sarao, who will face an extradition hearing to the U.S. on September 24 and 25, has been in custody since his arrest at his parents' home in West London in April, having failed to raise the money needed for his temporary release. Many of his assets have been frozen by a U.S. judge at the request of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed civil charges against him.
Last week, a High Court judge denied Mr. Sarao's appeal for looser bail conditions, saying that this request would be "premature" until the trader could demonstrate that he has no access to any funds anywhere else.
Mr. Sarao's lawyers are planning to go back to the High Court to fight this decision, Mr. Egan said Tuesday after the hearing.
Mr. Sarao was arrested on U.S. criminal and civil charges, which allege that from 2010 to 2014 he used an illegal trading strategy known as spoofing that allowed him to earn $40 million in profit.
At a previous hearing, Mr. Sarao said he had "done nothing wrong."
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the trader complained to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he traded futures contracts, more than 100 times about traders he believed were engaging in manipulative conduct.
Write to Chiara Albanese at
chiara.albanese@wsj.com
Who needs penicillin when you can just bleach the whole damn thing
