Ex-Goldman Sachs & JPMorgan trader accused of partying with 19-year-old intern
Philip Gillespie, the 40-year-old ex-CEO of crypto exchange B2C2 stepped down in November last year to pursue a ventures role.
A court document filed with the Court District of New Jersey earlier this month, says Gillespie had been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a colleague prior to resigning.
The document claims that Gillespie, who previously worked as an executive director in systematic market making at Goldman Sachs in London and an executive director in FX algo trading at JPMorgan in Singapore, 'allegedly was publicly observed drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and taking cocaine and hallucinogens' as well as, 'allegedly was gifting and distributing cocaine and hallucinogens to others - including but not limited to, a 19-year-old female attendee, who was alleged by Phillip Gillespie to be a B2C2 intern.'
It's part of a court case filed by Bradley Nagela, B2C2's former global head of options trading. Nagela says he was unfairly fired in retaliation for raising concerns about Gillespie’s behavior. He claims that he was concerned for the wellbeing of the intern, with whom he says Gillespie was also allegedly sharing a room. Nagela's lawyer told Bloomberg that he felt he "had an ethical and regulatory obligation" to report the perceived malfeasance.
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Nagela didn't actually attend the parties himself. He says he was told by subordinates that Gillespie had been, 'drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and allegedly snorting cocaine, directly off the serving table at Minibar, and then at an event at Purple Palms Creative in Miami Beach and elsewhere.'
Nagela claims, too, that he was informed that 'at one point during the evening, Mr. Gillespie’s face was so covered with cocaine residue that he resembled the fictional main character, Tony Montana, from the movie, Scarface.' The court document claims that Nagela had heard that Gillespie had been 'sharing alcohol and the hallucinogenic mushrooms with the 19-year-old female intern and others.'
Gillespie told Bloomberg Nagela's claims were based on "hearsay" and that “this is an ongoing court case with B2C2.” He declined to comment to eFinancialCareers. B2C2 declined to comment on the reason for Gillespie's exit, but told Bloomberg Nagela was terminated due to underperformance, and said it wouldn't comment further during the court case.
The intern, who was a Portuguese native living in Thailand, told Bloomberg that claims that she was having a relationship with Gillespie were untrue and that she was “grateful for the opportunity that Phil gave me to work at B2C2.”
Gillespie is now managing partner at AWR Capital, a London-based algorithmic trading hedge fund. He's also a shareholder and partner at Barker Wellness, a company providing skincare products infused with cannabis.
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