{"id":152436,"date":"2019-07-29T12:12:53","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T16:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countingpips.com\/?p=152436"},"modified":"2019-07-29T11:10:18","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T15:10:18","slug":"like-jeffrey-epstein-bullion-banks-get-sweet-deals-from-the-justice-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2019\/07\/like-jeffrey-epstein-bullion-banks-get-sweet-deals-from-the-justice-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Like Jeffrey Epstein, Bullion Banks Get Sweet Deals from the Justice Department"},"content":{"rendered":"
July 29, 2019<\/div>
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By Money Metals News Service<\/b><\/p>\n

First, a bank\u2019s commodities trading department takes metals investors for a ride like unwitting victims in the back of Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s \u201cLolita Express.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Manipulation\"<\/p>\n

Now federal prosecutors have extended the same sort of cozy non-prosecution agreement to shield the bank itself from a criminal indictment.<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors signed a non-prosecution agreement<\/a> in June with Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI) and Bank of America (Merrill\u2019s parent company) for rigging the precious metals markets.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found gold and silver traders working at Merrill Lynch had \u201cschemed to deceive other market participants by injecting materially false and misleading information into the precious metals futures market.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agreement references \u201cthousands of fraudulent orders\u201d \u2013 intended artificially to move the markets up or down by \u201cspoofing\u201d other traders and investors \u2013 over a period of 6 years.<\/p>

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Two traders have been indicted on criminal charges so far. The non-prosecution agreement<\/a> was only for the mega bank, not for its more expendable staff.<\/p>\n

The bank gets off with a less-than-consequential $25 million fine, a promise not to do it again, and a commitment to set up more controls\u2026 which they can self-monitor.<\/p>\n

The generous agreement was granted in part because \u201cMLCI has no prior criminal history.\u201d The prosecutors who drafted the agreement must not have had access to the Department\u2019s own files, or the internet.<\/p>\n

Suffice it to say the malfeasance covered here isn\u2019t the first bit of shady activity Merrill has been involved in. DOJ prosecutors also didn\u2019t take into consideration Bank of America\u2019s own record. Both organizations have been implicated in schemes, scandals, and frauds going back decades.<\/p>\n

Here is a partial list of what the bankers have been accused of doing to clients, shareholders and other victims (a more complete accounting can be found here<\/a>):<\/p>\n