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http://www.reuters.com/article/etfNews/idUSN3134161920080731 UPDATE 1-Trader sues Optiver for oil-market manipulation Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:08pm EDT NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - A trader living in Spain has filed a class-action suit seeking damages from the global fund Optiver Holding BV and its Chicago-based subsidiary that were charged last week by U.S. commodity regulators with manipulating oil futures markets. The plaintiff, Roberto Gracey, claims he lost nearly $9,000 during March 2007 as a result of oil market manipulation by Optiver. "As a direct result of the defendants' manipulation, plaintiff and class members were injured including by being deprived of a competitive market free of manipulation and by losing money on their trades in the subject contracts," claimed the suit, field in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week charged Optiver with manipulating prices of New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil and oil products futures contracts during the March 2007 period. Oil prices hit a record above $147 a barrel early this month. Politicians have pressured the government to crack down on energy market manipulation and excessive speculation. The CFTC charged three employees of the Netherlands-based fund, including the company's CEO and head of trading, with making about $1 million through manipulative trading of oil markets. The commission said the employees carried out a scheme known as "banging" or "marking" the close of the oil trading day to push prices up and down. The terms refer to the practices of acquiring a substantial position leading up to the closing period, followed by offsetting the position before the end of trading to attempt to move the price. The suit seeks damages and restitution for Gracey and class members as well as attorney fees as deemed fit by court. Optiver US LLC did not immediately return phone calls about the suit. The CFTC said last week the defendants face "substantial" fines if they are found guilty. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by David Gregorio) ------- hope these bluzzard die in hell