The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into several questionable oil market transactions that occurred just before significant pronouncements about the Iran war, ABC News reported on Monday.
According to the report, which cited sources, the DOJ and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are looking into at least four transactions in which investors bet over $2.6 billion that oil prices would drop soon before they slumped.
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On March 23, just 15 minutes before President Trump declared a postponement of the threatening strikes on Iran's power grid, more than $500 million in negative wagers were placed, the news channel said, citing the data it obtained from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
ALSO READ: Axios Reporter Trashes Insider Trading Charge After Oil Shorts Spike On Iran Deal News
Similarly, other trades included a $960 million gamble before Trump announced a ceasefire on April 7, a $760 million wager prior to Araghchi's declaration that the Strait of Hormuz was open on April 17, and an additional $430 million wager prior to Trump's extension of the truce on April 21, ABC News said.
The report, however, noted that the data does not confirm insider trading and that the names behind the trades are still unknown. Regulators are investigating whether politically connected traders received sensitive, confidential government information, it added.
ALSO READ: Market Manipulation? $920 Million Crude Oil Shorts Placed Before US-Iran Deal News: Report
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