Regulatory Violations

August 11, 2014

The CFTC entered an Order requiring Jacob N. Stein, individually and doing business as TEPdesign, Inc., to pay restitution of $244,400 to defrauded customers and a $100,000 civil monetary penalty, for committing fraud and misappropriation in connection with a commodity pool that traded leveraged or margined off-exchange foreign currency contracts (forex).  CFTC

August 7, 2014

The CFTC obtained an order against Florida residents John P. D’Onofrio, George E. Sarafianos, Scott D. Piccininni and their Florida companyAmeriFirst Management to jointly pay more than $25M in restitution and a $10M penalty for operating a fraudulent precious metals scheme.  Specifically, the order found the defendants operated an illegal, off-exchange precious metals scheme and made numerous fraudulent misrepresentations, false reports, and statements in connection with the scheme.  CFTC

August 7, 2014

Florida resident Lawrence Scott Spain and his company Palm Beach Capital were ordered to pay $527,000 for engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions.  The order stems from a CFTC Complaint filed in May 2014 charging Spain and his company with violating the Commodity Exchange Act by these illegal transactions.  CFTC

August 1, 2014

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement Complaint against Southern Trust Metals, Robert Escobio and Loreley Overseas Corp. charging them with violating the Dodd-Frank Act by operating an illegal, off-exchange precious metals scheme involving at least 135 customers who collectively lost $600,000 of the funds they invested.  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

May 21, 2014

The CFTC obtained an emergency court Order freezing and preserving the assets under the control of Cindy and Paul Vandivier and their company, Mintline, Inc., all of Florida.  The Order stems from a CFTC enforcement action charging the Vandiviers and Mintline with fraudulently soliciting customers and misappropriating customer funds in connection with illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals from July 2011 to at least April 2013.  CFTC

April 18, 2014

The CFTC filed an enforcement action against Wayne Pennoyer Weddington III and his companies, Brunswick Capital and Brunswick Capital Partners, charging them with solicitation fraud, making false statements, and registration violations in connection with a commodity pool that he formed called Pennoyer International Funds Global Opportunity.  CFTC

April 17, 2014

The CFTC issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Florida resident Derek J. Bridges and his companies Empire Sterling Metals and I.P.M. Investments for engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions.  The CFTC Order requires Bridges and Empire jointly to pay restitution totaling $243,000 and Bridges and I.P.M. jointly to pay restitution totaling $15,000 to their customers.  CFTC