NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A federal prosecutor is urging a judge to sentence a former Wall Street trader to nine years in prison for securities fraud. He says such conduct hurts trust in the markets and the victims included taxpayers, pension funds and charitable endowments.
But Judge Janet Hall repeatedly asked why she should give Jesse Litvak that long of a sentence. She is scheduled to sentence him Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Litvak defrauded private investment funds and funds established by the U.S. Treasury with government bailout money.
They say Litvak duped 35 victims into paying artificially increased prices or accepting artificially decreased prices for bonds they were buying or selling, netting $6.3 million in fraudulent profits for the company he worked for.
Litvak is seeking a sentence of up to 14 months, saying investors paid fair market value for the bonds.
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