Alessio Rastani
© BBCControversial: Trader Alessio Rastani said City workers 'don't really care' about the health of the economy
'We don't really care whether they're going to fix the economy, our job is to make money from it'

Twitter users claim Alessio Rastani is a member of 'Yes Men' hoaxers

The 'trader' at the centre of a controversial interview, in which he claimed the City just 'loves' a economic disaster, was today accused of being a hoaxer.

Twitter users took to the social networking site to 'out' the City trader as an imposter and claimed he was a member of a group of hoaxers, hours after an astonishing interview on the BBC.

Interviewers were left open-mouthed as Alessio Rastani admitted that traders 'don't really care that much' about the prospect of an economic collapse.

He astonished BBC viewers yesterday by describing his hopes of profiting from a recession, adding: 'The governments don't rule the world - Goldman Sachs rules the world.'

The self-styled 'independent trader' also claimed he had been 'dreaming of this moment for three years', as the global economy faces continuing uncertainty.

However sceptics took to Twitter today to claim Mr Rastani was merely impersonating a city trader and was even a member of political hoaxers the Yes Men.

One user said: 'It doesn't matter if it was Alessio Rastani or The Yes Men. What he said reflects how traders really think.'

In an interview on BBC News, Mr Rastani predicted, 'The market is toast.'

But when presenter Martine Croxall asked him what the solution was, he admitted: 'For most traders, we don't really care that much how they're going to fix the economy, how they're going to fix the whole situation.

'Our job is to make money from it.'

He added: 'I have a confession - I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession, I dream of another moment like this.'

His comments came on a day of turmoil in the stock market, with major indices going up and down throughout the day.

Shocked Ms Croxall replied that 'jaws have just collectively dropped' at the trader's comments.

'We appreciate your candour,' she added, 'however, it doesn't help the rest of us, does it?'

But Mr Rastani insisted that 'anybody' can profit from a catastrophic crash with the right 'hedging strategies', and drew parallels with the 1930s Depression.

He concluded: 'The economic crisis is like a cancer. If you just wait and wait, thinking this is going to go away, just like a cancer it's going to grow and it's going to be too late.'

The presenters were almost dumbstruck at the end of the interview, as Ms Croxall's co-host asked her, 'Do you dream about the economy at night?'

'I try not to,' she replied. 'Nightmare.'

Meanwhile the BBC said it had carried out 'detailed investigations' into allegations it was the victim of a hoax.

The corporation launched the investigation shortly after rumours appeared on the internet claiming Rastani had hoaxed interviewers and that he was linked with the political Yes Men group - who claim to impersonate 'big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them'.

A member of the group previously appeared on the BBC as a spokesman for Dow Chemical and was interviewed at length about the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

A BBC spokesman said: 'We've carried out detailed investigations and can't find any evidence to suggest that the interview with Alessio Rastani was a hoax. He is an independent market trader and one of a range of voices we've had on air to talk about the recession.'

Mr Rastani's outburst drew a mixed reaction from viewers.

His Facebook page was flooded with people asking for investment advice, but not all internet users were so complimentary.

One Twitter user described Mr Rastani as 'jaw-droppingly amoral', while trader Jack Gavigan wrote: 'If Alessio Rastani is such a great trader, why does he spend time teaching people instead of, y'know, actually trading?'

Mr Rastani's website, LeadingTrader.com, is full of pictures of his speaking engagements, but provides little information about his own trading experience.