A high-stakes game of deception and fraud has left a Chicago trader guilty on all charges. Keith Wakefield, 50, was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury for securities fraud and wire fraud, charges that could land him behind bars for up to 80 years. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the rogue trader's illicit maneuvers dialed up over $30 million in losses for his employer and unsuspecting victims.
Jurors in the U.S. District Court didn't buy Wakefield's defense, siding with evidence that painted a clear picture of his fraudulent actions while working as the head of fixed income trading at IFS Securities, Inc. Special Agent Robert W. "Wes" Wheeler, Jr., from Chicago's FBI Field Office, detailed in a statement obtained by justice.gov, how the 50-year-old engaged in unauthorized speculative trading in U.S. Treasury bonds, using IFS's trading accounts. Wakefield's cunning seemed to be at its peak as he tried covering his tracks by falsifying fake off-setting trades in the clearing broker's system, making it appear as if his trades were profitable through a different clearing broker.
But the web of lies didn't end with bond trading. From 2017 to 2019, Wakefield was deep into his own pockets, embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his company. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Franzblau and Bradley A. Tucker presented evidence demonstrating Wakefield's knack for falsifying the company's books to create fake commissions, lining his pockets with money he didn't earn.
The U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger has yet to set a date for Wakefield's sentencing, leaving the disgraced trader's fate hanging by a thread. With a potential of 20 years for each count, Wakefield might just find his next trades confined within the unyielding bars of a federal prison. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Morris Pasqual emphasized the magnitude of Wakefield's betrayal and the dedication of the SEC in bringing the slippery trader to justice.
