Ex-Goldman Trader Pleads Guilty to One Count of Wire Fraud
Ex-Goldman Sachs Group trader Matthew Marshall Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud Wednesday in connection with charges that he defrauded the Wall Street bank out of $118 million in 2007.
Taylor voluntarily turned himself in to agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York on Wednesday morning. Sentencing for the former trader was scheduled for July 26, and bond for Taylor was set at $750,000.
The maximum penalty for the charge is 20 years in prison, plus two times the monetary loss suffered by Goldman Sachs.
"Matt Taylor has accepted responsibility for his conduct today," his lawyer said in a statement. "The unfortunate events of late 2007 were an aberration. He looks forward to the opportunity to put this behind him and resume what has otherwise been a productive and exemplary life."
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Taylor in November, accusing him of fabricating trades to conceal an $8.3 billion futures position. The CFTC sought $130,000 in penalties.
Goldman itself paid $1.5 million last year to settle charges that it had failed to appropriately supervise Taylor. The bank has since put in place procedures to catch wayward trading activity more quickly.
"We are very disappointed by Mr. Taylor's unauthorized conduct and betrayal of the firm's trust in him," Goldman said in a statement Wednesday.
According to charges outlined against him, Taylor established his futures position in e-mini Standard & Poor's futures contracts on Dec. 13, 2007. The next day, it was flagged by Goldman's controls. By the time the trade had been unwound, it had caused $118 million in losses.
After leaving Goldman Sachs, Taylor moved to a position at Morgan Stanley in March 2008. He left that bank in July 2012.
