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By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Brooklyn onWednesday signaled that President Donald Trump's stance onimmigration may justify rejecting a HSBC Holdings Plcexecutive's request to return to England while awaiting a U.S.trial on fraud charges.
Mark Johnson, a British citizen who at the time of hisarrest in July was HSBC's global head of foreign exchange cashtrading, had been allowed to return to England from December toJanuary, and sought permission to travel there again in March.
But U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said that while hewould prefer to let Johnson visit his wife and five children,the current environment might complicate his return.
The judge cited Trump's Jan. 27 order temporarily banningentry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries, which isnow being reviewed by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals.
"My problem is I don't know what is going on down inWashington," Garaufis said.
Trump, a Republican who took office on Jan. 20, has defendedthe directive as necessary to prevent attacks by Islamistmilitants.
Under a plan proposed by Johnson's lawyer, Garaufis wouldorder his bail to be extended to include the United Kingdom, andJohnson would seek a type of visa he has used before to allowfor his return.
During a hearing that sometimes drew laughter in thecourtroom, Garaufis said would wait for a 9th Circuit rulingbefore deciding Johnson's bail conditions.
He said countries such as the United Kingdom, which he saidhas a "large suspect population," could be added to Trump's listof targeted countries, perhaps preventing Johnson's return toface the U.S. government's case.
"We're in an extremely volatile situation in terms ofimmigration," Garaufis said. "We just don't know."
Prosecutors said Johnson and another executive, StuartScott, in 2011 misused information from a client that hired HSBCto convert $3.5 billion to British pounds in connection with aplanned sale of the client's foreign subsidiaries.
The executives then used their insider knowledge to tradeahead of the transaction, causing a spike in the price of thecurrency that hurt the client, prosecutors said.
Johnson has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and wire fraudcharges. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek Scott'sextradition from the United Kingdom.
The case is U.S. v. Johnson et al, U.S. District Court,Eastern District of New York, No. 16-cr-00457. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by MargueritaChoy)
