BULLETIN: FLORIDA — AGAIN: CFTC Says Man With 3 Aliases Ripped Off Church Members And Prayer-Group Attendees In Forex Ponzi Scheme And Then Moved To Canada

BULLETIN: The CFTC has gone to federal court in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that a former Miami man who conducted prayer services in his home ripped off church members, friends, neighbors and others in a Forex Ponzi scheme.

Some investors bought into the scheme with cash payments that totaled in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the CFTC alleged.

Charged in the alleged caper were Juvenal Eduardo Machado and his Miami-based company, Invers Forex LLC. Invers was in the interior-remodeling business prior to morphing into a Forex firm, and Machado used at least three aliases, according to the CFTC.

The aliases included Juvenal Eduardo Machado Bogadi, Edward Kaufman and Eduardo Machado, the CFTC said. Machado moved to Canada after the scheme collapsed and customers demanded their money, and is believed to be living in Ontario.

Machado and his firm gathered at least $786,000 from customers, but did not open individual trading accounts for customers and deposit their money into individual accounts as promised, the CFTC said.

Rather, Machado and the firm opened a “single” trading account in Machado’s name. Although customers had forked over at least $786,000, Machado deposited only about $135,000 of that sum — and lost almost 90 percent in trading.

When the scheme apparently was collapsing in March 2010, Machado made excuses about why customers weren’t receiving their promised payouts, the CFTC said. In at least one instance, a customer who’d originally been told she could withdraw her money with 30 days’ notice was told she could not have her money for six months.

When the six months expired, the customer was told she needed to wait another 30 days to get her money, the CFTC said.

Authorities believe Machado moved from Miami to Canada during the summer of 2010. Despite demands from customers to return their money, the money has not been returned, the CFTC said.

Neither Invers nor the interior-remodeling firm — Interior Remodeling USA Inc. — was registered with the CFTC  “in any capacity,” the agency said, alleging that the scheme began in December 2008 and operated “at least” through March 2010.

Machado, who allegedly solicited Forex funds from church members and people who attended prayer meetings in his home, told prospects that a “God had put him on the earth to help people financially,”  the CFTC said.

Among Machado’s other claims was that he was “one of the best [F]orex traders in Miami”  and that people paid him to share his techniques, the CFTC said, alleging that Machado offered “guaranteed” profits of 5 percent a month.

At least 28 customers invested with Machado — and three customers alone turned over $344,000 in cash to him, the CFTC said.

Investigators believe some customers received disbursements in cash from Machado, the CFTC said.

Meanwhile, Machado and his firm used an accountant that also was a Forex customer and “caused” the accountant to send “false IRS forms” with earnings information to customers, the CFTC alleged.