Two former traders of a commodity merchandising firm settled CFTC charges for attempting to manipulate the price of wheat futures and options contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade.
According to the CFTC Orders (see here and here), respondents Peter Grady and Adam Flavin purchased and cancelled 250 wheat shipping certificates in the physical market in order to send a false or misleading signal to the market in order to increase the value of certain wheat spread and option positions. The CFTC also found that the respondents took efforts to spread information as to the cancellation through an industry newsletter.
Mr. Grady agreed to pay $250,000 and Mr. Flavin agreed to pay $150,000 to settle the charges.
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