Fraud Permeates the Forex Markets

 

The world of foreign currency exchange trading or forex is rife with fraud. We are talking about stealing customers’ funds, as well as misrepresentations and omissions to disclose the true risks of forex trading even when the investors’ money is actually invested. Consider the following.

In July 2010, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged three Floridians with issuing false statements to customers in a forex fraud. The alleged fraudsters, FX Professional International Solutions, Pedro de Sousa and Guillermo Rosario, misled customers by sending them monthly statements showing profits each month from 2005 through 2008. De Sousa and Rosario were arrested on federal criminal charges. (“CFTC charges 3 in forex fraud; weighs controlling high frequency trade,” by Abhishek Subrahmanya, IBTIMES.com, July 15, 2010.)

In October, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission charged some Boston forex traders with bilking investors out of over $30 million, according to a Reuters article entitled “Boston traders charged with forex fraud over $30 million,” by Ross Kerber. Boston Trading and Research LLC and founders Craig Karlis and Ahmet Devrim Akyil raised $40 million from 750 investors. The money was supposed to be used for forex trading, but part of it was diverted for their own personal use, including cars, entertainment and a personal residence, according to the article. Of the money that was actually used in forex trading, 90% of that was lost.

In November, 2010, the CFTC charged South Carolinians Ronald E. Satterfield, Graham Street Forex Group, LLC, Shore-2-Summit Financial, LLC, and Nicholas Bos with operating a ponzi scheme masquerading as a forex trading operation. (CFTC Release PR5935-10) According to the release, the perpetrators received at least $3.3 million from customers but only applied $1.9 million to forex trading, virtually all of which was lost. More than $850,000 was allegedly misappropriated for their personal use. The CFTC complaint alleges that customer account statements falsely showed the non-existent returns that had been promised.

Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years collective experience representing investors in securities and commodities related litigation and arbitration. While past results are not indicative of future success, Page Perry’s attorneys have recovered over $1,000,000 for clients on more than 40 occasions. Page Perry’s attorneys are actively involved in counseling institutional and individual investors regarding their investment problems. For further information, please contact us.