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Tag: Patrick H. Rakotonanahary

  • Patrick H. Rakotonanahary Sentenced To Prison For Forex Scheme That Defrauded Investors In Hawaii And On The U.S. Mainland; Case Was One Of The First Brought By Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

    A Florida resident charged with defrauding investors in Hawaii and the U.S. mainland has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison, ordered to begin serving his sentence immediately and make restitution — and advised he faces deportation to Madagascar upon his release from a U.S. prison.

    The case against Patrick H. Rakotonanahary, 34, of Punta Gorda, was one of the first assembled by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. He was sued civilly by the CFTC and charged criminally by the FBI in March 2010 with 21 counts of wire fraud, amid allegations he operated a forex Ponzi scheme and pocketed $1 million for himself.

    The scheme affected about 100 investors, most of them residents of Hawaii, state and federal investigators said.  The state of Hawaii also sued Rakotonanahary.

    Rakotonanahary operated a company known as Cyber Market Group LLC, which marketed a Forex scheme that purported to pay investors up to 10 percent interest per week. The scheme netted more than $10.2 million.

    Only minimal Forex trading occurred — and the trading that did occur resulted in losses, authorities said. The scheme sustained itself in typical Ponzi fashion.

    See earlier story.

  • BULLETIN: CFTC Busts 2 Alleged Ponzi Schemes; Patrick H. Rakotonanahary Arrested By FBI In Florida After Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Probe

    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 by the FBI, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).

    His arrest was credited to a joint investigation by the agencies, which operated under the umbrella of the Interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, the FBI said.

    President Obama formed the task force in November.

    “[I]nstead of using investor money to engage in Forex trading, Rakotonanahary primarily paid investment returns to earlier investors with investment funds from later investors as part of a ‘Ponzi scheme,’ using only about $1,864,000 for Forex trading, which generated losses of $814,806,” the FBI said. “Rakotonanahary used approximately $8,375,703 to pay investment returns and another $1 million personally.”

    Most of Rakotonanahary’s 100 investors hailed from Hawaii, the FBI said.

    Separately, CFTC announced yet another Ponzi case — this one in North Carolina.

    The agency charged Dennis Todd Hagemann and Yellowstone Partners Inc., both of Raleigh, with operating a forex Ponzi scheme involving the fraudulent solicitation of at least $700,000 from at least nine individuals.

    Hagemann was arrested and jailed by North Carolina state authorities.

    In yet another bizarre Ponzi twist, CFTC said Hagemann purported to have a tie to former Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin.

    Hagemann failed to inform a potential investor “that Mr. Yeltsin is deceased, and was deceased at the time he made the representation,” CFTC said.