UK court refuses to reduce ‘flash crash’ trader’s bail

Navinder Singh Sarao, the trader accused of playing a role in the 2010 flash crash, protested to a London court that he had “done nothing wrong” and was just good at his job after a District Judge rejected his request to reduce his bail.

Judge Elizabeth Roscoe refused to vary bail for the trader after he failed to raise the £5.05m needed as security to cover his conditional release.

Mr Sarao, 36, who is fighting an attempt by the US authorities to extradite him to stand trial in Chicago on wire fraud and other charges, appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday. He made the comments after the judge rejected his application to reduce bail to £50,000.

Mr Sarao, dressed in a grey tracksuit and sitting in the dock, appeared disappointed by the decision, shrugging to his legal team, led by barrister James Lewis.

As he left the glass-fronted dock he said: “I am just good at my job” and “I have done nothing wrong”.

Mr Lewis told the court it was “impossible” for his client to raise the money as his assets were currently subject to a worldwide freezing order imposed by the US authorities.

However, the judge ruled she was not prepared to vary bail conditions so only £50,000 would be provided by his two brothers and father.

She told Mr Sarao she was not convinced that £50,000 — together with other bail conditions — would be “sufficient to secure your attendance at court”.

Her decision provoked testy exchanges with Mr Lewis as he questioned aspects of the ruling and told her he would consider taking the case to the High Court.

Earlier in the hearing Mr Lewis told the court that the worldwide freezing order on his client’s assets was imposed before he was arrested in April.

District Judge Quentin Purdy had been told at a hearing last month that Mr Sarao had an account with £5m in it.

“It was for that reason no doubt Judge Purdy made it a condition that he lodged that as security,” Mr Lewis told the latest hearing.

Mr Lewis added that unbeknown to the defence team, the US authorities had issued a worldwide freezing order that only came to their attention on April 27, five days after Mr Sarao’s arrest.

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“The defendant is prohibited from withdrawing money,” Mr Lewis told the court, adding that any decision by the court to ensure Mr Sarao had no ready funds available “is met by this order”.

Mr Sarao traded in his own name from his own address, was of previous good character and had strong family ties with Hounslow, Mr Lewis told the court.

However, his application was opposed on Wednesday by prosecutor Carl Kelvin, who told the court that there were concerns about “hidden assets” and said it had been suggested that there were “hidden assets in Cayman in false names”.

A payment of just £50,000 rather than £5.05m would be “quite frankly inadequate in this case”, he told the court.

Mr Sarao will continue to appear before Westminster’s extradition court each Wednesday until the bail is raised, unless his case comes before the High Court.

A full extradition hearing is due to be held on September 24 and 25.

Mr Sarao’s current bail conditions include stipulations that he would have to live and sleep at an address in Hounslow notified to the court where he must be under electronic curfew between the hours of 11pm and 4am.

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His passport must be retained by the police and he was told that as a condition of his bail he could not apply for travel documents and must report to Hounslow police station three times a week.

His parents’ UK passports must also be provided to his solicitors as a further condition of his bail. He must have a mobile phone with no internet access and is not permitted to access the internet for any purpose.

As part of his application on Wednesday, Mr Lewis asked for the internet conditions to be relaxed to prohibit only his client’s use of the internet for trading.

Mr Sarao, who traded from his parents’ modest home close to Heathrow airport, has been charged by the US Justice Department with wire fraud, commodities fraud and market manipulation over a period of several years.

He is facing 22 charges that carry sentences totalling a maximum of 380 years and the DoJ alleges he made £26m illegally over five years.

The former Brunel university graduate had already said in court that he would fight extradition.