Photo by: mattbuck via Wikimedia Commons

A US state prosecutor said that a foreign exchange insider trading scheme at HSBC Holdings Plc may have involved at least 11 bank employees in addition to the two executives who have already been indicted for financial crimes.

Mark Johnson, HSBC’s global head of foreign exchange cash trading in London, is set to go on trial on September 18 before the courts of New York. He was charged with illegally using his knowledge of confidential information to gain from a pending $3.5 billion worth of currency transaction back in 2011. Johnson was alleged to have acted in conspiracy with Stuart Scott, the bank’s former head of currency trading in Europe. The two have allegedly confederated to utilize their knowledge of confidential information regarding an unidentified company’s plans to sell part of its equity in an Indian subsidiary and thereafter, convert the profits from dollars to pounds.

Under the indictment, Johnson and Scott were accused of undertaking fraudulent practices known as “ramping.” Johnson was alleged to have reaped $8 million in profit for the bank.

Johnson, who was arrested at New York’s Kennedy airport back in July 2016, entered a plea of not guilty. Scott, on the other hand, was arrested last June at his home in U.K.

State prosecutors said that both men and unidentified "others" have purchased pounds days prior the subject transaction. On Monday, the prosecutors specified how many persons have actually participated in the fraudulent scheme.

"We’ve identified at least 11 traders who put on positions based on inside information. Our allegation is Mr. Johnson tipped off other traders at the bank who also traded," Brian Young, a Justice Department lawyer told U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
While the US Justice Department didn’t identify the client company in the indictment, the court papers filed by Wohl revealed that it was Cairn Energy Plc, which was selling the unit to Vedanta Resources Plc.The state may introduce the additional traders as evidence during Johnson’s trial. Recently, Frank Wohl, Johnson’s lawyer, asked the court for the postponement of the trial. Wohl argued that the government had just turned over about 3,400 pages of evidence and data concerning at least 10,000 transactions that would necessitate a lot of time for review. However, Judge Garaufis said that he was "disinclined" to postpone the trial and instead ordered Wohl to submit the necessary papers.