Sarao earned $40 million from crash that wiped out billions of dollars.
By Raif Karerat
Navinder Singh Sarao, the British trader accused of contributing to a so-called “flash crash” that saw billions wiped off the Dow Jones in a matter of minutes, failed to have his extradition hearing postponed Friday.
Currently living in England after being released on bail earlier this month from London’s Wandsworth prison, Sarao faces extradition to the United States on charges that carry a maximum sentence of 380 years.
Lawyers acting for Sarao wanted to delay the hearing — scheduled for late September — to have more time to build their defense, reported The Guardian.
One member of Sarao’s legal team, James Lewis, told Westminster Magistrates Court he needed more time to get expert evidence about trading and market dynamics, ahead of the full extradition hearing.
“Mr Sarao has not had adequate time to prepare,” he told the court. However, the district judge rejected the petition in full.
Sarao, who lives with his parents in Hounslow, West London, faces 22 counts of fraud and commodity manipulation in the U.S. The 36-year-old is accused of manipulating financial markets and contributing to the flash crash 2010, when the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1,000 points in five minutes, losing 9 percent of its value and causing chaos on Wall Street. The market soon recovered and ended the day 3 percent lower — still a significant drop.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Sarao earned $40 million by using software to place fake trades to move prices up or down.
City A.M. reported Sarao has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying all he’s guilty of is being good at his job.