HispanicBusiness

A Mississippi trader pleaded guilty to commodities fraud Tuesday after running up more than $141 million in losses by shorting wheat futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade in 2008.

Evan Dooley, 44, of Olive Branch, Miss., entered his guilty plea in federal court in Chicago. He worked in the Memphis office of the now-defunct commodities brokerage MF Global Inc.

Dooley faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8.

In 2010, Dooley was indicted on 18 counts of wire and commodities fraud on allegations that he lied about his net worth to open an account and used it to engage in unauthorized trading, risking losses that he could not cover.

In February 2008, MF Global rocked the futures industry by disclosing that Dooley had cost the firm $141.5 million after it liquidated the trader's position of several thousand contracts.

Dooley acknowledged in his guilty plea that he had executed a series of large buy and sell orders for about 32,000 wheat futures contracts in overnight trading. His overall position greatly exceeded regulatory limits.

MF Global filed for bankruptcy last year after making a series of large, risky bets on European debt. As the firm unraveled, a $1.6 billion shortfall in customer accounts was discovered. No one at MF Global has been accused of a crime.

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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