Oct. 31, 2005, 10:45PM
Former trader indicted
Ex-El Paso employee headed natural gas desk
By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
The former head of El Paso's natural gas trading desk has been indicted as part of an ongoing investigation of alleged manipulation of natural gas prices.
An attorney for Jim Brooks said prosecutors informed him of the indictment on Monday and that he must turn himself in on Wednesday for booking.
Brooks' attorney, Wendell Odom, said he has not seen the indictment and did not know what the charges were. They were added to existing charges against James Pat Phillips, a former El Paso gas trader who was indicted last November on two counts of false reporting, one count of conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. Phillips pleaded not guilty.
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For more than a year federal prosecutors in Houston have been looking into whether companies manipulated natural gas prices by submitting false data to publishers of indexes widely used to set gas prices at pipeline hubs around the country.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3429495(Free registration required)