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Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets

This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to fraud in markets regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC, or governed by the Commodity Exchange Act, the CEA. You may also be interested in the following pages:

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August 8, 2023

BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Wells Fargo, and Bank of Montreal have been ordered to pay a combined $260 million for violating CFTC rules around recordkeeping and supervision.  Separately, two of those institutions, BNP Paribas and Wells Fargo, along with BMO Capital Markets Corp., Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc., Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Moelis & Company LLC, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., and Wedbush Securities Inc., have agreed to pay a combined $289 million for violating similar SEC rules.  The financial institutions were found to have failed to maintain, preserve, or produce communications sent via unapproved channels, such as personal texts.  With this enforcement action, the CFTC has recovered over $1 billion from actions against 18 financial institutions for similar charges, while the SEC has recovered over $1.5 billion from actions against 30 financial institutions.  CFTC, SEC

Grassley Leads Bipartisan Effort to Shore Up CFTC Whistleblower Program

Posted  07/28/23
On Wednesday (July 26), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced his bipartisan charge to adopt legislation to strengthen the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Program.  This is the program that both encourages and protects individuals for coming forward with information relating to potential violations of the Commodities Exchange Act and rewards them with up to 30 percent of any government...

July 12, 2023

Florida man Adam Todd and his companies, Digitex LLC, Digitex Limited, Digitex Software Limited, and Blockster Holdings Limited Corporation, have been banned from registering with the CFTC and trading in CFTC-regulated markets, and ordered to pay almost $4 million in disgorgement and $12 million in civil monetary penalty.  According to the agency, the defendants failed to register with the CFTC, failed to comply with certain regulations, attempted to manipulate the price of a digital asset token, and violated anti-money laundering procedures.  CFTC

CFTC Targets Cybersecurity and Environmental Fraud

Posted  07/6/23
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Logo with Orange Background
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the creation of two new task forces.  One is the Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies Task Force, to address fraud relating to cybersecurity and other emerging technologies.  The other is the Environmental Fraud Task Force, to go after environmental fraud and misconduct in derivatives and relevant spot markets.  The CFTC is the federal agency...

July 5, 2023

The operators of four feeder funds who failed to register with the CFTC and violated commodity pool regulations have been ordered to pay over $10 million cumulatively.  Hemraj Singh and King Royalty, LLC were ordered to pay about $7 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties, while Surujpal Sahdeo and SR&B Investment Enterprises, Inc., Randy Rosseau and Bull Run Advantage, LLC, and Daniel Cologero and Green Knight Investments, LLC were each ordered to pay under $1 million.  In addition to registration violations, the individuals and their companies collected almost $58 million from investors but used less than $2.5 million for their intended purpose of forex trading, while issuing false statements to investors showing only profits and no losses.  CFTC

July 3, 2023

Argent Asset Group LLC, First State Depository Company, LLC, and owner Robert Higgins have been ordered to pay a total of $146 million for making false representations to prospective precious metals investors and misappropriating tens of millions of dollars.  Through a fraudulent silver leasing program called the Maximus Program that promised guaranteed monthly lease payments, the defendants convinced some 200 unsuspecting customers into storing their assets with Argent.  Unbeknownst to customers, however, the defendants failed to adequately insure those assets despite making representations about coverage, and misappropriated client assets.  CFTC

June 28, 2023

Michael Ackerman of Ohio has been banned from participating in CFTC-regulated markets and ordered to pay $27 million in restitution as well as $27 million in civil monetary penalties for operating a digital asset fraud scheme.  He was also ordered to pay $31 million in restitution and serve 5 years of probation and 1 year of home confinement in a related criminal proceeding.  According to the CFTC, Ackerman solicited funds from more than 150 individuals and entities under the guise of using the funds to invest in digital commodity assets.  He was ultimately able to raise at least $33 million, but misappropriated all but $10 million for his personal use.  CFTC

CFTC Whistleblower Alert: Whistleblowers Wanted Relating to Misconduct in Carbon Markets

Posted  06/22/23
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Logo
On Tuesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a Whistleblower Alert calling for help in identifying fraud or manipulation in the carbon markets.  The CFTC is the principal federal watchdog for fraud involving the commodities markets.  Under the CFTC Whistleblower Program, those who voluntarily provide information that leads to a successful CFTC enforcement action are entitled to an award of up...

June 15, 2023

Wisconsin woman Kay Yang and her companies AK Equity Group LLC and Xapphire LLC have agreed to pay almost $13.7 million in restitution and over $10.4 million in civil monetary penalty in connection with a fraudulent scheme targeting the Hmong community.  Yang’s husband, Chao Yang, was also ordered to pay $1.42 million in disgorgement.  From 2017 until the pandemic hit in March 2020, the defendants solicited and received at least $15.7 million from 67 victim individuals or entities, many from the Hmong community.  The funds were intended for retail forex transactions, but the defendants misappropriated at least $4.8 million.  Under the settlement order, there is a permanent injunction against Kay Yang and her companies from participating in commodity exchange.  CFTC

$279 Million SEC Whistleblower Remains a Mystery

Posted  05/31/23
Securities Exchange Commission Logo Behind Gavel
It is the largest award ever made to a whistleblower on record under any of the ever-expanding list of whistleblower rewards programs$279 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) "to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions."  That is pretty much all the SEC disclosed in announcing the award because of the agency's strong...
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