Precious Metals Desk at JP Morgan Criminally Charged

The precious metals Desk at JP Morgan Chase on September 16, 2019, was criminally charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with being a criminal enterprise for approximately eight years in its manipulation of the prices of gold, silver, and other precious metals. The head of that desk and two other precious metals traders were charged with racketeering under the RICO statute which was originally passed to target organized crime.

The Justice Department said that the traders and their co-conspirators “conducted the affairs of the desk through a pattern of racketeering activity, specifically, wire fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud.”