A City broker accused of defrauding his top client out of millions on Thursday admitted misrepresenting the death of his own father in a bid to explain away his mistakes.

Matthew Bomford and his former employer, MF Global, are being sued for £30m ($43m) for allegedly deceiving Rajesh Gill, a day trader, about his performance to make sure he kept trading – an activity on which the brokerage was earning millions in commission payments.