December 21, 2016

The SEC brought charges against Noris Chamroonrat of Bangkok, Thailand and Adam L. Plumer of Las Vegas for running a phony day-trading firm and pocketing more than $1.4 million in deposits from hundreds of investors in over 30 countries.  The SEC alleges that Chamroonrat recruited Plumer to help him lure investors to day-trade through an unregistered brokerage firm called Nonko Trading with promises of generous leverage, low trading commissions, and low minimum deposit requirements.  According to the SEC’s complaint, rather than using a live securities trading platform, Nonko Trading provided certain investors with training accounts that merely simulated the placement and execution of trade orders.  When these investors sent funds to Nonko Trading and proceeded to place trade orders, the orders were never actually routed to the markets.  The SEC alleges that investor money was instead used to fund Chamroonrat’s personal expenses, pay Plumer and other associates, and make Ponzi-like payments to investors who asked to close out their accounts.  The SEC alleges that the scheme deliberately targeted investors who were inexperienced and more likely to place unprofitable trades, making them less likely to ask to withdraw funds from their accounts.  SEC

Tagged in: Financial and Investment Fraud, Ponzi Schemes,