REMEMBER THE ENRON FRAUD IN CALIFORNIA?

Enron employees convinced electrical plant operators to take their systems offline to jack up the cost of electricity and now it seems the banksters wanted some of that action. (h/t Atrios)

Judge orders JPMorgan to explain withholding emails
By Erin Geiger Smith

Fri Jul 6, 2012 7:31am EDT

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge has ordered JPMorgan Chase & Co to explain why the court should not force the bank to turn over 25 internal emails demanded as part of an investigation into whether it manipulated electricity markets in California and the Midwest.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave the bank until July 13 to submit an explanation as to why the court should not enforce FERC's subpoenas. JPMorgan has asserted the emails are protected by the attorney-client privilege.

FERC has recently stepped up its efforts to end manipulation of U.S. power markets, and news of the subpoena followed a series of more advanced probes of other big Wall Street banks and a record $245 million penalty against Constellation Energy.