City trader’s £20m payout for boss’s lies

Rajesh Gill was "nearly wiped out" financially after firm MF Global systematically deceived him about his performance to boost commission payments.

Mr Gill's former account manager Matthew Bomford was today branded a "fraudster" and a "persistent and inveterate liar" in a damning High Court judgment which awarded the massive sum.

He told Mr Gill he had a "golden touch" and was making money "hand over fist" while saying to his own girlfriend: "Raj is haemorrhaging money."

The manager fraudulently concealed the multi-million-pound losses because MF Global was earning £2.7 million from Mr Gill in commission through the sheer volume of his trades. He profited personally by more than £500,000 in bonuses in a year.

He now faces possible prosecution for perjury after the judge said that he was considering sending the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Gill, 37, was awarded provisional damages from MF Global of £19.75 million for fraudulent misrepresentation. The final damages could be higher with MF Global facing an additional payout of up to £10 million, including its own and Mr Gill's legal costs.

It had already paid Mr Gill, who was educated at the London of School of Economics and Harvard, an undisclosed sum running into millions before the trial in part settlement.

Mr Gill, a married father-of-one from Marylebone, was already known in the City as the "seven to seven man" because he had turned a starting fund of £7,000 into £7 million in two years.

In recent years, he again made huge profits. But he lost £3.2 million in a year after MF Global bungled the execution of dozens of his trades and made unauthorised transactions.

Mr Gill was repeatedly assured by Mr Bomford that he was doing an "incredible job" and making "blinding profits" as he dealt in shares from home. In October 2001, after months trying to hide the value of the account, Mr Bomford told Mr Gill his balance was £9.3 million. The court heard that this was a "whopping" lie because the real balance was less than £3 million.

The judge said: "Overall I formed the view that Mr Bomford was a complete stranger to the truth. He had acted fraudulently throughout, I suspect deceiving not only Mr Gill but his own senior management. It seems likely that he was motivated at least in part by a perceived need to generate commission."

Mr Gill likened his legal battle to "David taking on Goliath". He said: "I feel both elated and hugely relieved it is over. The firm and Mr Bomford had denied all Mr Gill's allegations. They alleged that he was a "compulsive" trader who ignored warnings about his strategy. But the judge rejected their arguments and upheld Mr Gill's claim.