(Bloomberg) -- A Chicago bond trader was convicted of fraud over unauthorized wrong-way Treasury bets that led to $30 million in losses and bankrupted broker dealer IFS Securities Inc.

A jury convicted Keith Wakefield, 50, of securities and wire fraud, US prosecutors said in a statement Thursday. Wakefield, who was head of fixed-income trading at IFS Securities, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.

Wakefield engaged in unauthorized trading in Treasury bonds from his firm’s account in 2019, and then attempted to conceal his actions with fake entries in a clearing broker’s order system to create the false impression that he had profitably traded through a different clearing broker, the government said. 

During one period in 2019, Wakefield had almost $250 million in high-risk naked short positions that he concealed from IFS officials and led to tens of millions in losses, according to records shown to the jury by prosecutors.

From 2017 to 2019, he also embezzled about $820,000 with false entries to generate commissions he hadn’t earned, the government said. 

Attorneys for Wakefield didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

In 2020, Atlanta-based IFS Securities won approval of its liquidation plan less than five months after filing for bankruptcy. 

Read More: Busted Brokerage Targets Fired Trader for Wrong-Way Treasury Bet

The case is U.S. v. Wakefield, 1:21-cr-00614, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). 

(Updates with court record, attempt to contact Wakefield’s attorneys.)

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