The feds charged three former Nomura traders on Tuesday with ripping off clients by lying about mortgage bond prices in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Ross Shapiro, Michael Gramins, and Tyler Peters misled customers by inflating the amount the bank paid for the bonds, according to charges brought by Connecticut US Attorney Deirdre Daly.
The men trained their underlings to cheat customers as well, prosecutors said.
The traders also face civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Not only did these traders lie to their customers, but they created a corrupt culture on Nomura’s trading desk by coaching more junior traders to employ the same deceptive and dishonest trading practices,” said Andrew Ceresney, the SEC’s head of enforcement.
Shapiro, 41, Gramins, 33, and Peters, 32, are expected to be arraigned on Thursday.
This marks the second time Nomura has been dinged over mortgage bonds.
In May, a federal judge ruled the bank lied about mortgage-backed securities that it sold to government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the run-up to the crisis.
Nomura declined to comment on the charges against its former traders.



