On May 09, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the filing of a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Madison Dean, Inc., of Wantagh, N.Y., and its principals, George Athanasatos, also of Wantagh, and Laurence Dodge of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., with fraudulently soliciting approximately 19 persons to invest approximately $415,000 in managed trading accounts to trade off-exchange foreign currency contracts on a leverage or margined basis. None of the defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC.

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On May 03, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the Honorable Ruben Castillo, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, on May 1, 2012, entered an order freezing the assets of defendants Dimitry Vishnevetsky of Chicago, Ill., and his company, Oxford Capital, LLC (OCL), a defunct Wisconsin limited liability company. The court’s order also prohibits the destruction of books and records. The court’s order stems from a CFTC civil complaint also filed on May 1, 2012, charging Vishnevetsky and OCL with fraud in connection with the operation of two commodity pools and an additional commodity trading scheme. According to the complaint, from at least the fall of 2006 through the present, the defendants fraudulently solicited and accepted at least $1.74 million from pool participants and commodity customers.

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On May 03, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the filing of a federal court action in Utah charging Bentley Equities, LLC, a Delaware corporation, and its principals, Christopher D. Hales and Eric A. Richardson, with fraud and misappropriation in connection with commodity futures trading. Richardson resides in Cedar Hills, Utah, and Hales is currently an inmate at the Florence, Colo., Federal Correction Complex. None of the defendants has ever been registered with the CFTC. The CFTC’s complaint, filed May 2, 2012, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, alleges that from at least April 2009 through August 2010, the defendants fraudulently solicited and accepted more than $1.1 million from approximately 38 pool participants and clients to trade commodity futures in a commodity pool account and in individual managed accounts.

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On May 03, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that a federal court in New York ordered more than $4.6 million in restitution and a civil monetary penalty in a 2003 CFTC enforcement action against defendants Thomas Qualls and his company, International Foreign Currency, Inc., which charged the defendants with misappropriation, fraudulent solicitation, and unlawfully offering off-exchange foreign currency futures contracts. Judge Dora L. Irizarry, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, entered an order granting the CFTC summary judgment, finding that the defendants had committed fraud as alleged in the CFTC’s complaint, and requiring the defendants to pay $814,733 in restitution and a $3.84 million civil monetary penalty for operating an illegal off-exchange forex futures fraud from November 2001 to July 2003.

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On April 18, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado entered an order against defendants Flint-McClung Capital LLC, of Englewood, Colo., and Shawon McClung, formerly of Denver, Colo., requiring them jointly and severally to pay restitution of $1,701,250 and a $4.3 million civil monetary penalty. The order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants.

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On April 13, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the commission has filed a Notice of Intent to Revoke the Registration of Robert Wayne Mansell, a resident of Chicago, Ill., who has been registered as a floor broker with trading privileges at the Chicago Board of Trade since 1989. The CFTC simultaneously issued an Opinion and Order, settling the action and revoking Mansell’s registration. The Notice alleges that, pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act, Mansell was subject to a disqualification of his registration based upon his plea of guilty to a felony charge of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, in the criminal action United States v. Mansell, Case No. 10-cr-864 (N.D. Ill.).

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On March 26, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it obtained a federal court consent order requiring defendants Angel F. Collazo, of Salinas, Puerto Rico, and his company, ACJ Capital, Inc., jointly and severally to pay $1,544,252 of restitution, to disgorge $550,590 of ill-gotten gains, and to pay a $1,666,770 civil monetary penalty for fraudulently soliciting customers to trade off-exchange leveraged foreign currency contracts and issuing false statements to conceal trading losses. The consent order of permanent injunction, entered March 23, 2012, by Judge Jose A. Fuste of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, stems from a CFTC complaint filed on May 4, 2011, that charged the defendants with operating a forex fraud scheme.

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On March 20, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the filing of a federal court action against Abraham Gutterman, Alliance Capital Metals LLC, and AR Goldman Wealth Management, LLC, (doing business as U.S. Principal Financial Services) all of South Florida, charging them with commodity options fraud and misappropriation. On March 15, 2012, the same day the complaint was filed, Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, entered an emergency order freezing the defendants’ assets. The order also prohibits the defendants from destroying or altering books and records. The judge set a hearing date for April 11, 2012.

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On March 21, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it filed a Notice of Intent to Revoke the Registrations of Richard Allan Finger, Jr., a resident of Washington State, and Black Diamond Futures, LLC, a Washington State limited liability company. The CFTC simultaneously issued an Opinion and Order settling the action and revoking Black Diamond’s registration with the CFTC as a Commodity Trading Advisor and Finger’s registration as its sole Associated Person. The Notice alleged that, pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act, Finger was subject to a statutory disqualification of his registration based upon his plea of guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 in the criminal action, United States v. Finger, Crim. Case No. 11-mj-424 (W.D. Wash.). The Notice further alleged that Black Diamond was subject to a statutory disqualification pursuant to the CEA because Finger was the sole principal of Black Diamond and Finger’s registration is subject to revocation.

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On March 14, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it filed a federal court action in the Southern District of New York charging Joseph F. Welsh III, of Northport, N.Y., with attempted manipulation of the prices of palladium and platinum futures contracts, including the settlement prices, traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The CFTC complaint alleges that Welsh engaged in this conduct from at least June 2006 through May 2008 and specifically on at least 12 separate occasions. The complaint charges Welsh with directly attempting to manipulate the palladium and platinum futures prices and with aiding and abetting the attempted manipulations of Christopher L. Pia, a former portfolio manager of Moore Capital Management, LLC, a CFTC registrant.

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On March 12, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it filed a civil enforcement action against Angus Jackson, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Martin H. Bedick, Angus Jackson’s Chief Financial Officer, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Martin B. Rosenthal of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, charges the defendants with making false statements to, and concealing material facts from, the National Futures Association. The complaint also charges Rosenthal with violating a prior CFTC order and acting as an unregistered commodity trading advisor.

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On March 09, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it filed a civil enforcement action against Christopher Varlesi of Chicago, Ill., individually and doing business as Gold Coast Futures and Forex. The CFTC is charging Varlesi with fraudulently operating a commodity pool to trade commodity futures and off-exchange foreign currency contracts. The CFTC complaint also charges Varlesi with making false statements to pool participants, misappropriating pool funds, and failing to register as a commodity pool operator. On March 8, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr. entered an emergency ex parte restraining order freezing Varlesi’s assets. The order also prohibits him from destroying or altering books and records. The judge set a hearing date for March 15, 2012.

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On March 07, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it filed an enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama charging John David Stroud and his companies, Stroud Capital Management, LLC, TS Capital Partners, LLC, and TS Capital Management, LLC, all of Auburn, Ala., with fraud and misappropriation in operating two commodity pools. On March 7, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Myron H. Thompson entered an emergency restraining order freezing defendants’ assets. The order also prohibits the defendants from destroying books and records and denying CFTC staff access to such records. The judge set a hearing date for March 16, 2012.

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On February 23, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that commission filed and simultaneously settled charges against Jeffrey J. Kinseth of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and his Iowa-based company, Virtual Vision Inc., for fraudulently soliciting individuals to participate in a pooled investment vehicle, misappropriation of investor funds, and issuance of false statements to conceal trading losses and fraud. Kinseth is not registered with the CFTC. The CFTC’s order requires Kinseth and Virtual Vision jointly and severally to pay a $575,000 civil monetary penalty and restitution of $574,936. The order also permanently prohibits Kinseth and Virtual Vision from engaging in any commodity-related activity, including trading, and from registering or seeking exemption from registration with the CFTC.

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On February 16, 2012 U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it obtained federal court consent orders resolving its remaining claims against defendants Robert D. Watson and Daniel J. Petroski, both of Houston, Texas, PrivateFX Global One Ltd., SA, and 36 Holdings Ltd. Global One, a corporation formed in Panama, and 36 Holdings are under the control of a court-appointed receiver, Thomas L. Taylor III. The consent orders, both entered on February 2, 2012, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, stem from a CFTC complaint filed in the same court on May 21, 2009, charging the defendants with operating a multi-million dollar fraudulent off-exchange foreign currency (forex) scheme (see CFTC Press Release 5661-09, May 26, 2009).

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