I have been writing about precious metals trading manipulation for more than 8 years.

I been ridiculed and told I was a conspiracy theorist to believe big banks like JPMorgan would be rigging the pricing of precious metals through manipulation of the paper contracts as I wrote here.

Well Monday morning the Justice Department announced the indictment of three precious metals traders charged with multi-year market manipulation racketeering conspiracy.

A former and two current precious-metals traders, who worked for Jamie Dimon and Blythe Masters over at JPMorgan, have been charged in a conspiracy to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts over an eight-year period.

The men: Gregg Smith, 55, of Scarsdale, New York; Michael Nowak, 45, of Montclair, New Jersey; Christopher Jordan, 47, of Mountainside, New Jersey appeared in Manhattan federal court Monday for arraignment.

I will allowed the feds to have the last words, since I have been waiting for this for a long time.

“The defendants and others allegedly engaged in a massive, multiyear scheme to manipulate the market for precious metals futures contracts and defraud market participants,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski.

“These charges should leave no doubt that the Department is committed to prosecuting those who undermine the investing public’s trust in the integrity of our commodities markets,” Benczkowski added.

“Smith, Nowak, Jordan, and their co-conspirators allegedly engaged in a complex scheme to trade precious metals in a way that negatively affected the natural balance of supply-and-demand,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office.

“Not only did their alleged behavior affect the markets for precious metals, but also correlated markets and the clients of the bank they represented. For as long as we continue to see this type of illegal activity in the marketplace, we’ll remain dedicated to investigating and bringing to justice those who perpetrate these crimes,” Sweeney said.