U.S. charges former Barclays forex trader with fraud

By Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged a former Barclays foreign exchange trader over his alleged role in a scheme to defraud a client of the bank, the DoJ said.

Robert Bogucki, the former head of foreign exchange trading in New York for the British bank, is alleged to have manipulated forex options before a large trade by computer and software maker Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) in 2011, using a practice known as "front-running".

A spokesman for Barclays declined to comment. Bogucki could not immediately be reached outside U.S. business hours.

According to the DoJ indictment, Bogucki is alleged to have misused information provided to him by HP before the company's planned acquisition of a British-based company.

HP hired Barclays to execute 6 billion pounds ($8.3 billion) worth of foreign exchange options as part of that deal. Bogucki is alleged to have made trades ahead of the deal that benefited Barclays at HP's expense.

"Robert Bogucki and others allegedly not only betrayed his client's confidences, but also risked undermining public trust in the foreign exchange options market," acting Assistant Attorney General John Cronan said in a statement published on the Department of Justice's web site on Tuesday.

Bogucki, who is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud, is due to make his first appearance in court in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday, the DoJ said.

The indictment is the second brought against the head of a foreign exchange desk at a major international bank, as the U.S. continues to investigate fraud in global foreign exchange markets.

A jury in October found former HSBC executive Mark Johnson executive guilty of defrauding Cairn Energy Plc in a $3.5 billion currency trade in 2011.

($1 = 0.7262 pounds)

(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Adrian Croft)