WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government has filed civil fraud charges against a former Goldman Sachs trader for hiding a trade that cost his employer more than $118 million.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Matthew Marshall Taylor in federal court in Manhattan. The agency says he failed to disclose an $8.3 billion position on a futures contracts that came back to hurt the company in December 2007.
The lawsuit does not name Goldman as Taylor's employer. But records kept by the industry's regulatory body show he was employed at Goldman at the time. A Goldman spokeswoman confirmed Friday that he had worked there, admitted misconduct and was terminated soon after.
Goldman spokeswoman Tiffany Galvin said Taylor "provided false explanations" when colleagues confronted him about problems. "He admitted his misconduct ... and was promptly removed from his job and terminated soon thereafter," Galvin said.
The CFTC was seeking unspecified penalties against Taylor.
His attorney, Ross Intelisano, didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Friday.