On February 17, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the filing of a complaint in federal court in North Carolina, charging defendant Mitchell Brian Huffman of Charlotte, N.C., with operating a fraudulent commodity pool scheme that defrauded participants of more than $3.2 million in connection with exchange-traded commodity futures contracts. Huffman has never been registered with the CFTC. From at least August 2006 to March 11, 2011, Huffman allegedly solicited prospective and actual pool participants, mainly family and friends, via in-person and direct telephone solicitations, to buy and sell exchange-traded commodity futures contracts on their behalf. During the period, Huffman allegedly fraudulently solicited and accepted approximately $3.2 million from at least 30 participants throughout the United States. In doing so, he also allegedly misled prospective and actual participants about the likelihood of profits and the substantial risks involved in such investments.

The original article can be found at U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.