Enrich - The spider network: the Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History

Darrell Read, Noel Cryan, Colin Goodman, Terry Farr, Danny Wilkinson, and Jim Gilmour. Photograph used with permission from BBC Motion Gallery/Getty Images.

ICAP

• Darrell Read: Broker renowned for his university degree and large nose
• Colin Goodman: Broker who sends out influential Libor run-throughs
• Danny Wilkinson: Red-faced broker and manager
• Frits Vogels: Manager in London
• Michael Spencer: Founder and CEO
• David Casterton: Spencers right-hand man, nicknamed Clumpy
• Anthony Hayes: Broker at Tokyo affiliate, nicknamed Abbo

RP Martin

• Terry Farr: Happy-go-lucky, motorcycle-crashing broker
• Jim Gilmour: Down-on-his-luck broker
• Lee Aaron: Broker, nicknamed Village
• Cliff King: The three brokers manager
• David Caplin: CEO, nicknamed Mustard

Tullett Prebon

• Noel Cryan: Amateur boxer, broker
• Mark Jones: Party animal, broker
• Nigel Delmar: Broker, Hayess best friend in Tokyo
• Danny Brand: Broker in Hong Kong
• Angus Wink: Senior executive

Bank of England

• Mervyn King: Governor
• Chris Salmon: Senior official

British Bankers Association (BBA)

• Angela Knight: CEO
• John Ewan: Official in charge of Libor

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

• Gary Gensler: Chairman
• David Meister: Head of enforcement division
• Stephen Obie: Enforcement official
• Vincent McGonagle: Enforcement official
• Gretchen Lowe: McGonagles deputy

U.S. Justice Department

• Denis McInerney: Head of fraud division
• Robertson Park: Lawyer in fraud division
• William Stellmach: Lawyer in fraud division
• Scott Hammond: Lawyer in antitrust division

U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA)

• Margaret Cole: Head of enforcement
• Patrick Meaney: Investigator

U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO)

• David Green: Director
• Matt Ball: Investigator

• Lydia Jonson: Hayess lawyer, from Fulcrum Chambers
• Ivan Pearce: Hayess lawyer, from Fulcrum Chambers
• Steven Tyrrell: Hayess U.S. lawyer (previously at Justice Department)
• George Carter-Stephenson: Hayess barrister before his trial
• Neil Hawes: Hayess barrister during his trial
• Mukul Chawla: Barrister representing the SFO
• Jeremy Cooke: Judge presiding over Hayess trial
• Gregory Mocek: Barclays lawyer (previously at CFTC)
• Gary Spratling: UBS lawyer (previously at Justice Department)

The small ski resort town, nestled in the mountains outside the city of Karuizawa, was a popular destination for day trips for Japanese families. Bustling during the day, it was mostly quiet this Saturday night. Clouds cloaked the moon.

A chartered bus pulled up outside a bar, its windows aglow. A light snow was falling. Out into the peaceful evening stumbled dozens of rowdy bankers, some toting tall cans of Asahi and Kirin. Most of them were drunk. They quickly took over the small bar.

The drinkers were employees of the American bank Citigroup, one of the worlds largest and most troubled financial institutions. A year earlier, at the beginning of 2009, American taxpayers had finished pumping a staggering $45 billion into Citigroup to bail out the collapsing behemoth. Now the transfused recipient was treating dozens of its investment banking employees to a weekend getaway. The bankers were housed nearby in a sprawling luxury hotel, each employees room designed in Japans typical spare style.

These festivities werent so spartan. The point was to foster camaraderie, and that was happening in spades. The party had begun on the hundred-mile ride on the bullet train out from Tokyo. After a day of hitting the slopes, Citigroup ferried the bankers to a bowling alley, where they drank and bowled and drank some more. Their bus had then deposited the intoxicated crew at this bar, before leaving the partiers behind to fend for themselves.

One of the fiestas ringleaders was a wiry, curly-haired American named Chris Cecere. You wouldnt know it from his behavior now, but he was one of the sharpest people in Tokyos cutthroat financial markets. A foul-mouthed veteran of the doomed Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers, Cecere (pronounced CHECK-er-ay) had only worked in Japan for a year or so, but he had quickly assembled a team of rock-star traders. His mandate was to push the already risk-hungry Citigroup into brave new financial frontiers.