Ex-Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre liable in $1bn fraud

BBC News, 1 August 2013 

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Fabrice Tourre worked for Goldman
 Sachs in the run-up to the global
financial crisis

A New York jury has found former Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre liable for fraud in a complex mortgage deal that cost investors $1bn (£661m).

Jurors concluded that the trader, who nicknamed himself "Fabulous Fab", had misled investors in the run up to the global financial crisis in 2008.

Complex mortgage investments played a significant role in the crisis.

Mr Tourre was found liable in six of the seven fraud claims brought by US financial regulators.

He was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of misleading investors about investments linked to subprime mortgages that he knew would fail.

Because the case is civil rather than criminal, he faces possible fines and a ban from the financial services industry.

The exact punishment will be determined at a later hearing.

In his closing arguments, SEC lawyer Matthew Martens described Mr Tourre's testimony as "surreal, imaginary, unreal, dreamlike".

He was also described by the regulator as the "face of Wall Street greed".

Two years ago, the disclosure of emails from Mr Tourre sparked widespread debate about Wall Street's role in the financial crisis.

In them he described himself as Fabulous Fab, saying of the financial markets that the "whole building is about to collapse anytime now".

"Only potential survivor, the Fabulous Fab... standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstrosities!!!"