DENVER-
A grand jury indicted a former Enserco Energy Inc. trader Wednesday in a scheme to report false natural gas trade data in Colorado and Canada to a publication widely used to set prices and settle trades.
Mathew Reed, whose hometown was listed as Sandy, Utah, was indicted on charges of wire fraud, and aiding and abetting, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court.
Reed worked for Enserco in its office in Golden, the indictment said.
In 2003, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Enserco $3 million on allegations that it falsely reported the prices at which it bought or sold gas, skewing price indices on which buyers and sellers base negotiations.
From about May 2000 to June 2002, Reed was accused of falsely reporting natural gas trade price and volume information to “Gas Daily,” which collects data to compile an index of gas prices.
Reed was accused of coordinating with an Enserco trader in Calgary to submit false trade information, the indictment said. Prosecutors did not name the Calgary trader.
A phone message left after business hours Wednesday for an attorney who had represented Reed in the past was not immediately returned. A phone number for Reed could not be found.
The charges are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine plus three years of supervised release, according to court documents.
