, who called himself Richard Lee Carlson, ''looked like a guy who could be in an

Allstate insurance ad,'' one broker said. ''He was harmless looking.'' Today, f
ew in this city's teeming financial district would call Mr. Carlson harmless. He
was one of at least four undercover agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigati
on who set out nearly two years ago to substantiate allegations of widespread co
rruption in commodities futures trading at the Board of Trade, the world's large
st futures market, and at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the second-largest. F
ictitious World
In an elaborate ''sting'' operation, the agents built a fictitious world for the
mselves in order to pose as traders and secretly tape-record hundreds of convers
ations with commodities traders. Some traders were suspected of overcharging cus
tomers, not paying them the full proceeds of sales and using their knowledge of
customer orders to trade first for themselves.
The Government's ruse was disclosed about two weeks ago, when the agents and pro
secutors subpoenaed at least 50 traders and others to appear before a Federal gr
and jury. Hundreds of other subpoenas have been issued, involving millions of pa
ges of documents.
Suddenly it was as if the people the agents portrayed had never existed. As the
sting became known, their offices at the exchanges were emptied. The apartments
they maintained were vacated, although the F.B.I. left answering machines hooked
up for a few days, apparently in hopes of recording outraged traders.
The undercover operation stunned this city's futures community, whose denizens m
arvel at how the agents managed to infiltrate their close-knit world and remain
undetected for so long. Even officials of the commodities exchanges, who were al
so kept in the dark, were fooled.
Interviews with Government officials, traders, brokers, exchange employees and l
awyers for those who have received subpoenas have provided fresh details of the
sting operation.
The Government was contacted by the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, the big agri
cultural concern, people involved in the case said. Archer-Daniels complained th
at trading abuses had occurred on the floor of the Board of Trade, and the compa
ny agreed to let two agents work for the company's trading subsidiary, giving th
em entree to the frenzied world of commodities trading. Officials of Archer-Dani
els declined to comment.
By late 1986, the futures pits in Chicago had become