The smart-aleck IT genius who crashed the Dow

LONDON -- From the modest suburb of Hounslow, west of London, Navinder Singh Sarao shook Wall Street to the core.

The Department of Justice accused Sarao on Tuesday of wire and commodities fraud in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Illinois. The U.S. is seeking Sarao's extradition to face the charges.

The futures trader faces one count of wire fraud, 10 counts of commodities fraud, 10 counts of manipulation, and one count of "spoofing."

As CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports, spoofing is the practice of placing fake trades and cancelling them within seconds or less in order to shock the market. It is also illegal.

Prosecutors say he did it 19,000 times, causing the Dow Jones to plunge 600 points in five minutes -- and making about $40 million in the process.

Market analyst Louise Cooper told CBS News that, while his actions were illegal, they clearly demonstrated a financial technology prowess that other traders will likely envy.

"If I was one of the big investment banks, I would be instantly trying to find out who this guy is and, once the Department of Justice have dealt with him, I would be looking to hire him," Cooper said. "Clearly he is making a lot more money from a house in Hounslow than a lot of their traders. Clearly this man is an IT genius."

An IT genius, perhaps, but a bit of a smart-aleck, too, says D'Agata; the court papers say Sarao once bragged that he told a U.S. regulator to "kiss his" rear end (not his exact phrasing) when they asked about his trading practices.

Asked Wednesday by the Westminster Magistrates' Court whether he consented to the U.S. extradition request, Sarao simply said, "No."