Law360 (August 18, 2021, 6:39 PM EDT) — An Illinois federal judge kept intact most of the U.S. government’s criminal racketeering case against four former JPMorgan Chase traders accused of spoofing the commodities market, but cut bank fraud charges from the prosecutors’ superseding indictment.

U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang said Tuesday the government’s allegations put defendants Gregg Smith, Michael Nowak, Christopher Jordan and Jeffrey Ruffo on notice of the conduct underlying racketeering, conspiracy and most other charges over their alleged eight-year scheme to spoof the commodities market with false orders that moved prices in more favorable directions for their genuine trades.

However, the government’s bank fraud charges were too…