Chicago Trader Sentenced to More Than 16 Years in Federal Prison for Engaging in Unauthorized Trading That Caused $30 Million in Losses
CHICAGO / Friday, September 11, 2026 — A Chicago trader has been sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison for engaging in unauthorized speculative bond trading that cost his employer and others more than $30 million in losses and also caused his employer to become insolvent, which in turn led to more than 200 people losing their jobs.
KEITH WAKEFIELD worked as the head of fixed income trading for IFS Securities, Inc., a broker-dealer in Chicago. In 2019, Wakefield knowingly and fraudulently engaged in unauthorized speculative trading in U.S. Treasury bonds using his employer’s trading accounts, exposing his trading to approximately $250 million in losses and actually causing more than $30 million in losses to the employer and its counterparties. Wakefield attempted to conceal the unauthorized trades and losses by entering fake off-setting trades into a clearing broker’s order system, creating the false impression that he had profitably traded through a different clearing broker.
In addition to the fraudulent trading scheme, Wakefield from 2017 to 2019 embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from IFS Securities by falsifying the company’s books and records to create fake commissions that Wakefield knew were not actually owed to him.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago in 2024 convicted Wakefield, 52, of Chicago, of securities fraud and wire fraud. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger sentenced Wakefield to 16 years and eight months in federal prison.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ryan Whalen, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provided valuable assistance.
“This crime was driven by pure greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hasten argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant’s fraud had a ripple effect causing multiple financial institutions to lose money and causing IFS to go out of business.”
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois
