CFTC

A Florida man has been arrested by the FBI on 21 counts of wire fraud amid allegations he operated a forex Ponzi scheme, collecting more than $10.2 million and pocketing $1 million for himself.
The announcement of the arrest of Patrick H. Rakotonanahary, 34, of  Punta Gorda, Fla., was made in Hawaii after a joint probe [...]

In a case that may spread a chill among fraudsters who use YouTube to promote bogus money-making schemes, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged a Virginia man with fraud.
Ronald W. Smith Jr. of Vansant used a YouTube video to promote a Forex Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $800,000 from 34 investors, CFTC [...]

UPDATED 5:25 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) KINGZ Capital Management Corp. (KCM) might have been used or contemplated for use as a tool in two far-reaching, incredibly elaborate Ponzi schemes, according to an analysis of public records and other information.
One of the schemes ultimately appears to have consumed tens of millions of dollars in a squalid venture [...]

Player in a Ponzi scheme? If alleged Minnesota schemer Trevor Cook’s experience is any indication, you should expect to be placed under a microscope by local merchants and police if you’re named in a complaint by regulators.
Cub Foods, a Minnesota-based grocery chain, placed Cook under video surveillance when he entered a local store. A loss-prevention [...]

UPDATED 4:06 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A federal judge in the SEC and CFTC Ponzi scheme cases against Trevor Cook and Pat Kiley has paved the way for the receiver to begin selling property linked to the alleged $190 million scheme.
Among the first items up for bid will be 12 large-screen televisions, two slot machines and [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: These briefs are based on information from recent Ponzi or fraud schemes. As noted yesterday and previously, the United States has formed a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. Cases such as the ones below are part of the reason why.

SOUTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE: Among the more than 30 victims in the Oren Eugene [...]

A Louisiania man charged criminally in an alleged Ponzi scheme and sued civilly on the same day last month lied to investors, some of whom liquidated retirement savings and annuities only to suffer massive losses by entrusting funds to Matthew B. Pizzolato, a federal judge has ruled.
The case against Pizzolato is proceeding on separate tracks: [...]

A Minnesota man accused of operating a Ponzi scheme with Christian radio host Pat Kiley is not cooperating with the court-appointed receiver in the case and might have spent $30,000 on “gift cards” after the SEC and CFTC brought twin actions last month, according to the receiver.
The receiver, R. J. Zayed, described efforts to locate [...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Members of Florida-based AdSurfDaily and a closely connected autosurf firm, AdViewGlobal, purportedly based in Uruguay, may find this story particularly eye-opening.
Play the autosurf or “offshore” HYIP investment games? Buy into the hype that overseas “registration” provides “shelter?” Pose as an “expert” on the Ponzi and HYIP boards and tell your downline members or [...]

A man imprisoned between 1996 and 2001 after being convicted in Texas of two financial felonies emerged from the penitentiary and targeted Greater Oklahoma City’s ethnic Chinese in a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.
Kenneth W. Lee also had a $3 million civil judgment placed against him in the 1990s in [...]

There has been nonstop news about Florida Ponzi schemes in the past 48 hours. Several indictments have been announced, the latest involving Sean Healy of Weston.
Healy, 38, was charged in a 55-count indictment unsealed in Pennsylvania with multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors said Healy “spent the money [...]

UPDATED 12:39 A.M. EDT (OCT. 16 U.S.A.) In twin actions that may send shockwaves across the offshore autosurfing “industry,” the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have gone to court to stop an alleged Florida-based Ponzi scheme that claimed a presence in Panama.
Today’s announced actions by the SEC and CFTC [...]

UPDATED 7:18 P.M. EST (U.S.A.) The FBI has made arrests in the Westridge Capital Management case.
Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh, principals in WCM and an arm known as WG Trading of Greenwich, Conn., both were arrested. WCM is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Greenwood and Walsh were arraigned this afternoon in New York. Bail was set [...]

By coincidence the words appear in the 13th paragraph of a Chicago Tribune story invoking investors’ sustained lack of luck and reporting on a new series of Ponzi schemes the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating.
The words were spoken by Gregory Mocek, former CFTC enforcement director, and are the most important words spoken to [...]

“We are seeing an uptick in Ponzi scheme cases because, in this economic climate, new investors cannot be found to perpetuate the scheme. As these schemes collapse, the CFTC will move swiftly to prosecute those who harm innocent investors.” – Stephen J. Obie, CFTC
“Run the other way” if someone promises you exorbitant investment returns, warned [...]