Archive

October 20, 2015

Alan James Watson, Cash Flow Financial LLC, and Michael S. Potts have been ordered to pay over $91 million in fines and restitution for operating a commodity pool Ponzi scheme.  CFTC

October 20, 2015

A federal judge has ordered John R. Bullar and his company, Executive Management Advisors LLC, to pay over $31 million in penalties and restitution for fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, and operating a Ponzi scheme.  CFTC

October 19, 2015

The CFTC filed a lawsuit against Igor B. Oystacher and his proprietary trading company, 3 Red Trading LLC, both of Chicago, Illinois, charging the defendants with spoofing and employment of a manipulative and deceptive device while trading futures on four different futures exchanges.  CFTC

October 5, 2015

The head of a sham debt relief operation agreed to a judgment of more than $7.9 million to settle FTC charges that he deceived consumers and charged them thousands of dollars while providing nothing in return. In a complaint filed in May 2014, the FTC alleged that the DebtPro 123 LLC defendants falsely told consumers their programs would settle all of their debts and repair their credit. Then they told them to stop paying and communicating with creditors, which led to more debt and worse credit because of accrued interest, late charges, creditor lawsuits, garnished wages, and sometimes bankruptcy. FTC

October 1, 2015

The FTC is mailing 23,406 checks totaling more than $3.7 million to consumers who lost money after buying LeanSpa, a supplement whose marketers allegedly made deceptive weight-loss claims. The FTC and the State of Connecticut sued the marketers of LeanSpa in December 2011, charging that they used fake websites to promote acai berry and “colon cleanse” weight-loss products, and falsely told consumers they could receive free trials by paying a nominal shipping and handling cost. In reality, consumers ended up paying $79.95 for the trial, and for recurring monthly shipments of the product that were hard to cancel. FTC

September 30, 2015

The CFTC filed charges against Guardian Asset Group, LLC and its owner and principal, Andrew Kurzbard, both of West Palm Beach, Florida, alleging that the defendants engaged in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis.  CFTC

September 29 ,2015

American Portfolio Asset Management, Inc. and its owner, Alan M. Kneller, both of Boca Raton, Florida, will pay over $578,000 in restitution and penalties to settle charges that they illegally offering off-exchange financed transactions in precious metals to retail customers.  CFTC

September 29, 2015

The CFTC have filed a lawsuit against Harvard Assets LLC, London Assets Inc., and Harvard International Trading, Inc., all three operating in Florida, and their controlling person, Todd Owen Marshall for engaging in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers.  CFTC

September 28, 2015

The CFTC ordered Michael E. Simmons and Global Consortiums, LLC, both of Fayetteville, Georgia, to pay a $360,000 penalty and restitution totaling $229,660 for committing fraud and misappropriation in connection with operating a commodity pool that offered leveraged or margined off-exchange foreign currency transactions.  CFTC

September 25, 2015

The CFTC has charged Safety Capital Management, Inc. and GNS Capital, Inc., both doing business as FOREXNPOWER, John Won, and Sungmi Kang with fraudulent solicitation of over $1.5 million from customers to trade off-exchange foreign currency and misappropriation of over $622,000 of customer funds.  CFTC