On August 18, 2014, following a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation and criminal indictment, Paul Robson became the second former Rabobank employee to plead guilty for his participation in a scheme to manipulate the Japanese Yen London InterBank Offered Rate (LIBOR).  This latest success for the agency “demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continued resolve to hold individuals and institutions accountable for their involvement in fraud in the financial markets,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

The charges against Robson came in the wake of Rabobank’s October 2013 admission of guilt for its involvement in the global scheme.  The bank agreed to pay a $325 million penalty as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ.  Three months later, the agency charged Robson along with two Rabobank derivatives traders with submitting fraudulent LIBOR figures in order to benefit their own trading positions.  LIBOR is a benchmark interest rate used by lenders worldwide as a basis for calculating interest rates on short-term and various other loans.  A London-based trade association calculates LIBOR for 10 different currencies based on rates submitted by the world’s leading banks, which are supposed to reflect each bank’s estimation of the rate it would be charged for a short-term loan.  Robson played his role in the scheme as the primary submitter of Yen LIBOR for Rabobank, one of 16 banks that contributed to the published Yen LIBOR.

Earlier this year, Rabson was indicted on 15 different counts, each of which carried up to a 30-year prison sentence.  Rabson pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.  His sentencing is scheduled for June 2017.