Ex-JPMorgan Trader Pleads Guilty in Six-Year Spoofing Plot (2)

A former precious-metals trader said to have worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. admitted he engaged in a six-year spoofing scheme that defrauded investors in futures contracts with the help of his colleagues and bosses.

John Edmonds placed hundreds of orders he never intended to execute, prosecutors said. The orders were designed to move the market, but were canceled before being matched, the Justice Department said Nov. 6. Edmonds and other traders sought to manipulate futures markets for gold, silver, platinum and palladium on the Nymex and Comex exchanges for their own benefit.

The charges are part of a broad ...