By Byron Kaye
SYDNEY, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A former Rabobank NA RABOVR.UL trader charged with taking part in a scheme to manipulate benchmark interest rates will appear in an Australian court on Wednesday after an extradition request led to his arrest, a court official said.
Paul Thompson, one of seven Rabobank traders indicted in New York, has been scheduled to appear in Magistrates Court of Western Australia on Oct. 28 following his arrest in the state capital Perth on Thursday, the official said.
Thompson was officially denied bail on Friday, the day after his arrest, but can re-apply at his next appearance, the official said, adding that there was no lawyer listed for Thompson in court records.
Thompson was the Dutch bank's head of money market and derivatives trading for Northeast Asia, according to a U.S. Justice Department statement.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly conspiring to manipulate the London interbank offered rate. Two former Rabobank traders, Anthony Allen and Anthony Conti, are on trial in Manhattan.
The charges stem from a global investigation into the manipulation of Libor by banks, a probe that has spawned investigations into other markets, such as currencies and precious metals.
Reuters calls to the U.S. Consul General in Perth and to Thompson's home were not returned.
A spokesman for the Australian Federal Attorney General's office confirmed Thompson was arrested following a U.S. extradition request in relation to "wire and bank fraud offences", without commenting further.
Local media quoted an unidentified spokesman for Thompson's family as saying the family were "devastated" by his arrest and that he would seek bail.
"There is no need for him to be in prison while they are addressing the extradition process," the spokesman was quoted as saying, describing Thompson as "a devoted and loving father".
Thompson's family had hoped he would "have an opportunity to defend himself against the allegations in either Australia or the UK (where) he would have good access to the necessary evidence, witnesses, financial and emotional support to defend himself properly".
Thompson has never worked in the U.S. and has no direct connections there, the spokesman noted.
The U.S. Justice Department has won about $2 billion in criminal penalties from banks including Barclays (L:BARC) Plc and UBS Group AG.
Rabobank agreed to pay more than $1 billion in 2013 to resolve regulators' claims, including a $325 million penalty from the Justice Department.