Flash Trade Spoofer Says Computer Whiz Made His Crime Easier (3)

A Chicago programmer is on trial over software he developed that prosecutors say had only one purpose: to manipulate markets with bogus orders. It’s a significant expansion of the U.S. crackdown on spoofing because Jitesh Thakkar never actually placed such trades.

Instead, jurors will consider if making a tool used to break the law is a crime. Thakkar is charged with conspiracy to commit spoofing and aiding the illegal trades of Navinder Singh Sarao, a British day trader who was a key figure in the 2010 stock market Flash Crash. In testimony April 1 in Chicago, Sarao said Thakkar helped ...