THE ex-Mitsui Oil trader who lost his firm some US$81 million was sentenced to five years jail on Wednesday.
Noriyuki Yamazaki, 37, pleaded guilty last week to 10 charges of falsifying accounts between April and October 2006.
Yamazaki, who traded a petroleum product naphtha, put in false prices for the product which prevented the head office from finding out the true scale of his losses and closing out his positions.
Yamazaki had believed that the prices would turn and that he would be able to cover his losses. He also believed that the sudden closing down of his positions would bring about the worst result for the Mitsui office in Singapore.
District Judge Chia Wee Kiat on Wednesday said Yamazaki, as the main trader at Mitsui Oil Asia, was "in a position of trust and responsibility." Loss limits had been put in place. When the losses were incurred, the district judge said that "it was incumbent on the accused to report this truthfully to his company; it was not for him to take matters into his own hands."
He added that "by deceiving the company in the manner that he did, the accused had in effect traded in his integrity."
In sentencing, 99 other similar charges were taken into consideration. The district judge sentenced Yamazaki to one year's imprisonment on each of the 10 proceeded charges. Five will run concurrently and the other five, consecutively.
It is not yet known if Yamazaki, who is married with two children, will appeal his sentence.
Noriyuki Yamazaki, 37, pleaded guilty last week to 10 charges of falsifying accounts between April and October 2006.
Yamazaki, who traded a petroleum product naphtha, put in false prices for the product which prevented the head office from finding out the true scale of his losses and closing out his positions.
Yamazaki had believed that the prices would turn and that he would be able to cover his losses. He also believed that the sudden closing down of his positions would bring about the worst result for the Mitsui office in Singapore.
District Judge Chia Wee Kiat on Wednesday said Yamazaki, as the main trader at Mitsui Oil Asia, was "in a position of trust and responsibility." Loss limits had been put in place. When the losses were incurred, the district judge said that "it was incumbent on the accused to report this truthfully to his company; it was not for him to take matters into his own hands."
He added that "by deceiving the company in the manner that he did, the accused had in effect traded in his integrity."
In sentencing, 99 other similar charges were taken into consideration. The district judge sentenced Yamazaki to one year's imprisonment on each of the 10 proceeded charges. Five will run concurrently and the other five, consecutively.
It is not yet known if Yamazaki, who is married with two children, will appeal his sentence.
