Confiscation hearing told of disgraced Libor-rig trader's '£2m' assets

Updated

A disgraced City trader could lose everything from his seven-bedroom house to his wife's engagement ring to repay millions of pounds gained from rigging Libor rates.

Tom Hayes and his wife Sarah Tighe could be forced to give up their £1.7 million house in Woldingham, Surrey, Mercedes-Benz car and even their wedding rings and her engagement ring.

Hayes was jailed for 14 years, reduced to 11 on appeal, for his part in the manipulation of the benchmark interest rates.

The 36-year-old, of Fleet, Hampshire, was convicted after trial last year of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud from 2006 to 2010, when he worked for UBS and Citigroup.

A financial investigator for the Serious Fraud Office outlined more than £2 million of available assets during a confiscation hearing at the Old Bailey.

Michael Parroy QC, representing the Serious Fraud Office, said Hayes and his wife carried out "various manoeuvres" on their family home to transfer it from joint ownership into her name.

The property was remortgaged for around £350,000 and put solely in Ms Tighe's name after his arrest in December 2011.

In the application it stated the loan was for "garden refurbishment" but the prosecution claim it was to finance Hayes's legal fees.

"It would appear that the actual purpose of the loan was to deal with Mr Hayes's legal fees but instead of that going down (on the form), which might have raised considerable concerns to the lender, what seems to have been done is to use that description," Mr Parroy added.

He said "the whole" of the money for the property, which the couple bought in 2011, came from Hayes's earnings in Japan.

His six-figure salary, millions of pounds in bonuses and "golden hello" when he moved to Citigroup were boosted by his performance, which was "tainted by the manipulation of Libor", he added.

"If you total up the bonuses, ignoring the salary, it comes to £2,451,396," he told the court.

"Those are the netted bonuses/incentive figures from both UBS and Citigroup."

"What Mr Hayes was doing in his manipulation of Libor was to give himself an edge, an advantage in the transactions he was carrying out," he added.

The London interbank offered rate - or Libor - is a short-term rate banks charge each other for loans.

Hayes, who is on the autistic spectrum and was accompanied by an intermediary in the dock, made repeated outbursts and comments throughout the hearing.

He and Ms Tighe, who sat in court, married in 2010 and have a four-year-old son together.

The confiscation hearing is due to finish on Thursday when the judge Mr Justice Cooke will determine how much Hayes gained from his crimes and how much he will have to repay.

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