Steve Karvellas

Steve Karvellas, who served on the board of directors of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) from 1996 to 2000, plead guilty in early April 2008 to breaking New York's general business law when he took advantage of market fluctuations in the price of natural gas by executing his own personal orders ahead of those of his clients.

Under the plea agreement, Karvellas will serve five months in jail, will be on probation for five years, and will have to pay $850,000 in fines. Karvellas also pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, stemming from his destruction of documents concerning the case after being served with a grand jury subpoena.

NYMEX is the world's largest commodities futures exchange for the trading of precious metals and energy. Fast Facts:

1. Hometown: Allendale, New Jersey
2. Other traders pleading guilty: Brian Keane, Ryan Tremblay, Thomas Maloney
3. Time period when crimes occurred: 2002-2003
4. During crimes, Karvellas was chairman of the NYMEX Adjudication and Compliance Review Committee
5. Case referred to D.A. by enforcement arm of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
6. Practice Karvellas plead guilty to known as "front-running"
7. Karvellas gave $2300 to Rudy Giuliani's Presidential Campaign during the first quarter of 2007

QuotesManhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau: "[Steve Karvellas] deprived his customers of the profits they would have realized had he executed the trades properly."

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