Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets

April 23, 2015

German-based Deutsche Bank AG and its UK-based subsidiary DB Group Services (UK) Limited agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion to settle US and UK allegations relating to their role in manipulating and false reporting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Euribor.  In addition to the monetary payout, DB Group Services agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and Deutsche Bank entered into a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve wire fraud and price-fixing charges. The settlement payment consists of an $800 million CFTC penalty, a $600 million penalty payable to the New York Department of Financial Services, $344 million payable to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) action, and criminal penalties and disgorgement payable in an agreement with DOJ, including a $150 million fine payable by DB Group Services and a $625 million penalty payable by Deutsche Bank.  DOJ; CFTC; NY

April 21, 2015

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Sentry Asset Group, LLC of Boca Raton, Florida, and its owner and manager, John Pakel of Del Ray, Florida, alleging that they engaged in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis.  CFTC

April 21, 2015

A CFTC civil enforcement action was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Nav Sarao Futures Limited PLC and Navinder Singh Sarao for price manipulation and spoofing.  CFTC

April 20, 2015

The CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an emergency restraining order freezing assets and prohibiting the destruction or concealment of books and records of Dorian A. Garcia, and his companies, DG Wealth Management, Macroquantum Capital LLC, and UKUSA Currency Fund LP, all of Naples, Florida.  The CFTC previously had filed a complaint charging the defendants with fraud in connection with their solicitation of customers for their foreign currency and options trading pools, misappropriation of customer funds, and their issuance of false statements and registration violations.  CFTC

April 17, 2015

The CFTC announced that it filed a civil enforcement action in a Chicago federal court against Matthew J. Marcus of California and his company, Tech Power, Inc., a Nevada corporation located in California, and John D. Briner, an attorney residing in Vancouver, Canada, and his company, MetroWest Law Corporation, a Canadian law firm, for engaging in fictitious single stock futures transactions on OneChicago LLC and trading non-competitively.  CFTC

April 15, 2015

The CFTC ordered Hope Advisors LLC, a Brentwood, Tennessee, Commodity Pool Operator, to pay a $100,000 civil monetary penalty for acting as a CPO without registering with the CFTC, as required, and for providing monthly statements to pool participants that failed to show all the information required by Commission Regulation.  CFTC

April 6, 2015

The CFTC secured a permanent injunction against RFF GP, LLC, KGW Capital Management, LLC, and Kevin G. White, all of The Woodlands, Texas, requiring the defendants to pay $7.5 million for operating a fraudulent commodity pool.  CFTC

April 1, 2015

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement complaint in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and Mondelēz Global LLC, headquartered in Northfield and Deerfield, Illinois, respectively, for manipulation and attempted manipulation of the prices of cash wheat and wheat futures.  CFTC

March 31, 2015

The CFTC filed a lawsuit charging Maverick International, Inc. and its principals, Wesley Allen Brown and Edward Rubin, with operating a fraudulent commodity pool.  CFTC