Chicago Trader to Pay $377,000 for Forex and Commodity Fraud Charges
- Trader's company was part of the consent order issued by a court in Illinois.
- The order permanently prohibits further violations of the CEA and CFTC
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC CFTC The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss Read this Term) announced on Tuesday that a court in Illinois entered a consent order for a permanent injunction against a Chicago-area trader and his company for Forex and commodity fraud.
The defendants are Dro Kholamian of Barrington, Illinois and his company, Blue Star Trading, LLC (Blue Star), which had an office in Park Ridge, Illinois. The consent order resolves a CFTC action filed on 30 November 2018, alleging solicitation fraud, misappropriation of client funds and failing to register with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor and an associated person.
The order finds that between January 2013 and November 2018, the defendants solicited and accepted $995,000 from clients for futures and forex trading through accounts managed by Kholamian and Blue Star.
Through his affiliation with his Armenian church and social contacts of Armenian heritage, Kholamian sought out some clients. Defendants returned $768,000 to their clients and stole $227,000, using those funds to pay other clients in a Ponzi scheme-like fashion, as well as to pay for Kholamian's personal and business expenses.
In addition to $227,000 in restitution, Kholamian and Blue Star must pay a civil monetary penalty of $150,000. In addition to permanently prohibiting further violations of the Act and CFTC regulations, the order imposes permanent registration and trading bans on the defendants.
Recent CFTC Enforcement Actions
Recently, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action to charge four operators for running a $44 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and Read this Term.
Dwayne Golden of Florida, Jatin Patel of India, Marquis Egerton of North Carolina and Gregory Aggesen of New York were charged with fraud for operating Ponzi schemes involving Bitcoin, for fraudulently soliciting more than $44 million of investments, and for misappropriating millions of dollars. Furthermore, Golden, Patel and Egerton are accused of fraudulently soliciting more than $23 million worth of Bitcoins through the websites Empowercoin and Ecoinplus.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC CFTC The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss Read this Term) announced on Tuesday that a court in Illinois entered a consent order for a permanent injunction against a Chicago-area trader and his company for Forex and commodity fraud.
The defendants are Dro Kholamian of Barrington, Illinois and his company, Blue Star Trading, LLC (Blue Star), which had an office in Park Ridge, Illinois. The consent order resolves a CFTC action filed on 30 November 2018, alleging solicitation fraud, misappropriation of client funds and failing to register with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor and an associated person.
The order finds that between January 2013 and November 2018, the defendants solicited and accepted $995,000 from clients for futures and forex trading through accounts managed by Kholamian and Blue Star.
Through his affiliation with his Armenian church and social contacts of Armenian heritage, Kholamian sought out some clients. Defendants returned $768,000 to their clients and stole $227,000, using those funds to pay other clients in a Ponzi scheme-like fashion, as well as to pay for Kholamian's personal and business expenses.
In addition to $227,000 in restitution, Kholamian and Blue Star must pay a civil monetary penalty of $150,000. In addition to permanently prohibiting further violations of the Act and CFTC regulations, the order imposes permanent registration and trading bans on the defendants.
Recent CFTC Enforcement Actions
Recently, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action to charge four operators for running a $44 million Bitcoin Ponzi scheme Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and A Ponzi scheme is a scam that looks to lure investors, ultimately paying profits to earlier investors with funds from more later investors.This form of fraud tricks victims into believing that products are instead generated from product sales or other means. In actuality, most investors are completely oblivious to the actual origin of incoming funds.One of the central attributes of a Ponzi scheme is the necessity of its ongoing nature, which is dependent on a steady flow of new contributions and Read this Term.
Dwayne Golden of Florida, Jatin Patel of India, Marquis Egerton of North Carolina and Gregory Aggesen of New York were charged with fraud for operating Ponzi schemes involving Bitcoin, for fraudulently soliciting more than $44 million of investments, and for misappropriating millions of dollars. Furthermore, Golden, Patel and Egerton are accused of fraudulently soliciting more than $23 million worth of Bitcoins through the websites Empowercoin and Ecoinplus.