Fraud in CFTC-Regulated Markets

January 21, 2015

A New York federal court has ordered Michael Kardonick, Gary Shapoff, and Atwood & James to pay a penalty of over $2 million and has imposed a permanent trading ban over allegations of Forex options fraud and misappropriation.  CFTC

January 21, 2015

Bharat Adatia and his companies, Lions Wealth Holdings, Lions Wealth Services, and 20/20 Precious Metals have been ordered to pay over $5.3 million in sanctions for an alleged fraudulent precious metals scheme.  CFTC

January 20, 2015

The CFTC settled charges against Singapore-based Olam International, Ltd., which operates a futures trading desk in London, and its subsidiary, Olam Americas, Inc., based in Summit, New Jersey, requiring them to pay a $3 million civil monetary penalty.  CFTC

January 16, 2015

The CFTC ordered Summit Energy Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Louisville, Kentucky, to pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty for acting as an unregistered commodity trading advisor.  CFTC

January 14, 2015

A New Jersey federal court entered an order of default judgment and permanent injunction for over $870,000 against TOTE Fund LLC and MJS Capital Management LLC, two commodity pool operators, and their sole principal Michael J. Siegel of Northfield, New Jersey, for misappropriating funds and other violations.  CFTC

December 24, 2014

MF Global Holdings Ltd. must pay $1.212 billion in restitution (or such amount as necessary to ensure that claims of customers of its subsidiary, MF Global Inc. are paid in full). The CFTC previously filed and settled charges against MFGI for misuse of customer funds and related supervisory failures in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations. CFTC

December 22, 2014

The CFTC ordered Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to pay a $3 million penalty on charges of failing to properly invest customer segregated funds, failing to prepare and file accurate financial reports, failing to maintain required books and records, and for related supervisory failures. CFTC

July 29, 2014

JP Morgan Securities, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., agreed to pay $650,000 to settle CFTC charges of submitting inaccurate reports to the CFTC relating to the required reporting of positions held by certain large traders whose accounts are carried by JPMS.  The reports are known as “large trader” reports and are used by the CFTC to evaluate potential market risks and monitor compliance with CFTC requirements.  The reporting violations occurred despite the CFTC notifying JPMS of numerous errors in its reports.  CFTC

July 28, 2014

The CFTC issued an Order against Lloyds Banking Group and Lloyds Bank for false reporting and attempted manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for Sterling, U.S. Dollar, and Yen. The CFTC also brought and settled charges that Lloyds aided and abetted the attempts of derivatives traders at Rabobank to manipulate Yen LIBOR.  The Order requires Lloyds Banking Group and Lloyds Bank to pay a $105M civil monetary penalty, cease and desist from their violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, and to adhere to specific undertakings to ensure the integrity of LIBOR submissions in the future.  CFTC

June 11, 2014

The CFTC obtained a default judgment against Michael James Seward, Yan Kaziyev and their company SK Madison Commodities, a Commodity Pool Operator based in New York City, requiring them to pay restitution totaling $1M and a civil penalty of $2.5M for fraudulently soliciting more than $1.3M from members of the public to trade futures in a commodity pool.  Specifically, the defendants were found to have misrepresented their trading practices and historical trading returns and prepared and distributed to pool participants false account statements and performance reports showing huge profits when in reality they were losing money and diverting large amounts of pool participants’ funds for their own use.  CFTC