Ex-Barclays trio in bid to appeal their Libor convictions
Former Barclays bankers Jonathan Mathew, Alex Pabon and Jay Merchant have applied to appeal their convictions for Libor-rigging offences, which were handed down last month.
Morning Wire can reveal that applications have been lodged on behalf of the three men, who were found guilty of one charge each of conspiracy to defraud on grounds they conspired to manipulate US dollar-linked Libor between 1 June 2005 and 1 September 2007.
Mathew, who is represented by Matthew Frankland at Byrne and Partners, and Merchant will also be appealing their respective four year and six-and-a-half year sentences. Pabon was sentenced to two years and nine months but will not be appealing his sentence.
Read more: HSBC currency traders charged in US rate-rigging investigation
A charge of conspiracy to defraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The jury decided the trio’s fate after an 11-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, with Merchant being found guilty unanimously, Mathew by an 11-1 majority and Pabon by a 10-2 majority.
They are the second, third and fourth persons a jury has determined guilty as part of the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) ongoing probe into Libor manipulation.
The only other person to be found guilty is former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes.
Hayes, who marked his one-year anniversary in prison earlier this month, was originally sentenced to 14 years for eight counts of conspiracy to defraud but had his sentence reduced to 11 years by the Court of Appeal in December.
Hayes’ conviction relates to yen-linked Libor. He had intended to take his case before the Supreme Court but his application to do so was blocked earlier this year. He has also been ordered to pay £878,806 under a confiscation order.
He is now raising money to fund an appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body which considers whether failed appeals should be reconsidered by the courts, and has raised over £65,000 of his £150,000 target.
Read more: Three former ICAP brokers have US Libor charges dropped
In January, six former brokers were cleared of conspiring with Hayes.
Meanwhile, ex-Barclays banker and Mathew’s former boss Peter Johnson pleaded guilty in October 2014, making him the first person to be convicted as part of the SFO’s operation, and was sentenced to four years. He was also ordered to pay £114,501.19 under a confiscation order and £30,000 in costs.
At the time of sentencing, it was said confiscation proceedings for Mathew, Pabon and Merchant would take place at a later date.