UPDATE: Jeffery Groendyke, Figure In CFTC Ponzi Case Filed Civilly In May, Pleads Guilty To Criminal Charge Of Wire Fraud After FBI Probe

UPDATE: Jeffery (also cited as “Jeffrey”) L. Groendyke, the Michigan man ordered by a federal judge earlier this month to pay nearly $1.4 million in restitution and penalties in a Forex Ponzi case brought civilly by the CFTC, now has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of wire fraud, federal prosecutors in the Western District of Michigan said yesterday.

Groendyke, 41, admitted he fraudulently obtained about $1 million from investors in his JG Forex Fund and misappropriated money, the office of U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis said.

The guilty plea followed an investigation by the FBI, prosecutors said.

Groendyke was charged civilly in May.  In November, court filings by the CFTC alleged that funds from Groendyke’s fraud scheme made their way to Nicholas Trimble, who was running a fraud scheme through Capstone FX Quantitative Analysis Inc. that involved a purported “automated forex robot trading system” known as the “Gladiator system.”

As part of Trimble’s fraud, Trimble fabricated a Utah office and told an investor that miracle programmers worked at the Utah office. When the investor wanted to see the office, Trimble arranged a “webinar” instead, the CFTC charged.

Trimble, 29, of Denver, was spending investors’ money at Las Vegas casinos, making large cash withdrawals and giving money to his wife and a lawyer, the CFTC charged.

A federal judge in Colorado froze Trimble’s assets.

Claims about miraculous trading platforms and software frequently accompany Forex fraud schemes, which often are targeted at people of faith and sometimes include webinars.

Groendyke is free on bond. Sentencing is anticipated in March.