CFTC Charges Texas-Based Willie Lee Cloud, Jr., Principal & Agent of C & R Financial, with Operating Ponzi Scheme
Cloud, Jr. Charged with Violating CEA, Misappropriating Customer Funds, Providing False Account Statements
Overview
CFTC filed complaint against Willie Lee Cloud, Jr. (Cloud), principal and agent of C & R Financial, Inc. in Texas, for soliciting at least $200,000 from nine investors which he claimed would be put in individual forex trading accounts
Cloud advertised to customers that [...]
CFTC Stops Another Forex Ponzi Scheme
CFTC Charges VA Resident Ronald W. Smith, Jr. with Fraudulent Solicitation and Misappropriation of $800,000+ in Customer Funds
Overview
CFTC charges Smith with providing false account statements to his customers and using at least $800,000 of his customers’ investment money to pay for personal expenses. CFTC claims that Smith traded hardly any of the funds in his customers’ accounts. [...]
Forex Fraudster Jailed For Violating Court Orders in CFTC Anti-Fraud Action
Minnesota Federal Judge Throws Trevor G. Cook in Jail For Dissipating Funds and Failing to Surrender $35 Million+ in Assets
In November 2009, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ordered an emergency freeze of assets belonging to Minnesota residents Trevor G. Cook and Patrick Kiley and their trading companies. Cook and Kiley, who were charged [...]
CFTC Charges Florida Resident Michael J. Riolo and His Two Companies with Fraud in Alleged Multi-Million Dollar Foreign Currency Scam
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today charged Michael J. Riolo of Boca Raton, Florida, and two companies he controls and owns, LaSalle International Clearing Corporation and Sterling Wentworth Currency Group, Inc., with fraudulently soliciting and receiving funds from members of the general public in an off-exchange foreign currency (forex) scam and providing their [...]
Delaware Resident Kenneth Branch and his company, Cocoon Trade, Inc., Ordered to Pay More than $1.5 Million in Restitution and Penalties in CFTC Commodity Pool Fraud Action
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the entry of a Consent Order of Permanent Injunction against Kenneth L. Branch (Branch) of New Castle, Delaware and a Default Judgment Order (Default Order) against Cocoon Trade, Inc (Cocoon). The Orders require Branch and Cocoon collectively to pay $632,787 in restitution to defrauded customers and [...]
CFTC Charges Texas A&M Finance Professor Robert Watson, and Texas Attorney Daniel Petroski and their Companies with Fraud in Multi-Million Dollar Forex Scheme
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today charged Robert D. Watson (Wastson), an executive professor in the Department of Finance at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, Daniel J. Petroski (Petroski), a Texas lawyer and certified public accountant, with orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraudulent off-exchange foreign currency (forex) scheme. Watson and Petroski managed two [...]
Another Forex Fraud
CFTC Freezes Assets of Fraudulent Forex Traders
The CFTC announced another forex scam targeting retail forex investors. Like many frauds which we have detailed over the last few months, this fraud would likely have been detected earlier if the investors had made some basic inquiries into the claims made by the fraudsters. This action again shows [...]
Forex Dealer Member Barred From Industry
A forex dealer member, One World Capital Group, LLC, was permanently barred by the NFA from having NFA Membership. The decision was based on a compliant filed in September of 2008. Evidently One World has a history of flaunting NFA rules and has been subject to large fines in the past. We will keep you [...]
Forex Hedge Fund Group Ordered to Pay Penalties for Forex Fraud
In one of the more interesting forex fraud actions I have seen, a forex hedge fund acted as a counterparty to transactions with retail investors. Generally off-exchange foreign currency trades with retail customers can only be completed by firms which are Futures Commission Merchants or Forex Dealer Members, and who are also registered with the [...]
Forex Hedge Fund Fraudsters Fined by CFTC
Release: 5573-08
For Release: November 25, 2008
Michigan-Based Aurifex Commodities Research Co. Ordered to Pay a Total of $150,000 in Restitution and Civil Monetary Penalties to Resolve CFTC Charges of “Private Hedge Fund” Fraud