US seeks $1.1m from ex-Goldman trader

New York - US regulators are seeking more than $1.1m from ex-Goldman Sachs trader Fabrice Tourre after he was found to have defrauded investors on mortgage bonds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission asked in a filing late Monday for $910 000 in penalties from Tourre, who was found liable of fraud by a federal jury in August over the sale of mortgage-linked securities ahead of the financial crisis.

The SEC is also seeking the disgorgement of $175 463 in ill-gotten gains and $62 858.03 in interest.

A New York jury found Tourre liable on six of seven counts of fraud for misleading investors over the risk of the mortgage-linked securities Goldman sold to them in 2007. The securities cratered after the housing bust, leaving the investors with large losses.

Tourre, a French national, gained the nickname "Fabulous Fab" after he called himself that in an email that also made clear he knew the bonds were highly risky.

Goldman Sachs paid $550m in 2010 to settle with the SEC on a related investigation.

US District Judge Katherine Forrest will determine the penalty.