Neil Phillips the co-founder of London-based hedge fund Glen Point Capital has been charged with conspiracy to manipulate the US dollar-South African rand money markets to trigger a $20 million payout, according to a report by Reuters.
Philips, 52, was arrested in Spain earlier this week after he was indicted in a Manhattan court on criminal charges of conspiracy to commit commodities and wire fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud.
The charges date back to December 2017 when prosecutors allege Phillips directed a Singapore-based employee of an unidentified bank to sell $725 million in exchange for more then ZAR9 billion pushing the exchange rate between the currencies below ZAR12.5 to the the dollar, a level that triggered a payment of $20 million on a digital option held by Glen Point.
Phillips allegedly collected more than $15.6 million from the transaction and also paid $4.34 million to an unidentified client.
