On December 7, 2021, Peter Miller, a natural gas trader residing in Puerto Rico, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and four counts of commodities fraud, for his role in a commodities insider trading scheme.
The indictment alleges that Miller, through his company Omerta Capital, LLC, conspired with several individuals to enrich themselves from illegal commodities trading. Two employees of a Houston energy trading company allegedly disclosed material non-public information to Miller’s co-defendant, Matthew Webb, who communicated the information to Miller. As alleged, Miller used the inside information to conduct pre-arranged noncompetitive trades, and to offset futures contracts through opposite transactions for an equal number of positions in the same delivery month, with the net loss or gain equal to the difference between the initial price and the price at the time of the offset. The trades, which took place in 2016, allegedly resulted in illegal profits for Miller, Webb and their co-defendants. Webb and two other individuals have pleaded guilty to related charges.
The indictment also alleges that beginning in or around August 15, and continuing through December, 2018, Miller and other individuals knowingly engaged in fraudulent, noncompetitive, trades, including fictitious sales, accommodation trades, prearranged trades, offsetting trades, and non-arms-length, trades, all involving Henry Hub natural gas futures contracts.