(FinanceMagnates.com) Supporters of Tom Hayes, the former UBS rates trader and the first person to be convicted for the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), have launched a crowdfunding appeal via UK platform Fundrazr to raise £150,000 ($217,403) to underwrite a further appeal against his conviction. The former trader, currently serving an 11-year prison sentence, was also ordered to pay a confiscation order of £878,806 ($1,240,267) in February by a UK criminal court.

The crowdfund campaign hopes to to raise 150,000 pounds to pay for a fresh attempt to appeal against his conviction.

Hayes, a former UBS and Citigroup derivatives trader, last August became the first person to be convicted of fraud offences linked to the setting of benchmark Libor rates. In sentencing him for dishonesty, the judge said a message must be sent to the world of banking, “where probity and honesty are essential”.

He was initially handed a 14-year jail sentence – one of the toughest in the UK for white collar crime – before it was reduced to 11 years on appeal four months later. However, his simultaneous appeal against the conviction failed and in March the Court of Appeal also refused leave for his case to be brought before the UK’s Supreme Court.

Hayes on Tuesday formally announced plans to bring his case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which looks at miscarriages of justice and can refer a case back to the appeal courts – usually on the basis of compelling new evidence.

Hayes was initially given a 14-year sentence before it was reduced to 11 years on appeal four months later. However, his concurrent appeal against the conviction failed and in March the Court of Appeal also refused leave for his case to be brought before the UK’s Supreme Court.

This week, Hayes formally announced plans to bring his case to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which examines miscarriages of justice and can refer a case back to the appeal courts, usually on the basis of compelling new evidence.

Hayes’ family is now said to be in possession of fresh evidence, some of which he had requested in his trial but which the prosecution did not supply. His latest attempt to appeal comes three months after six former brokers he is alleged to have conspired with were acquitted in a separate London trial.

Hayes’ attempt to appeal is supported by David James, a member of the House of Lords, who is reported to have said that Hayes had been victimised and called for a more precise legal clarification of Libor and how it should be supervised.

Last year, European Union lawmakers gave their backing to a draft law introducing direct supervision of important benchmarks like Libor. The UK has also introduced a law requiring Libor to be compiled by a third-party administrator which fulfills certain requirements.

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