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Category: CFTC

April 20, 2021

Chasing Scam Facilitators – The U.S. v. SpotOption, Yukom, GreyMountain Management, et al

Broker scams are like icebergs. You can see only the tip sticking out of the water, i.e., domain, website, offshore entities, and nominees a/k/a monkeys. Underwater or in the darkness of the Internet, the real perpetrators and facilitators are hiding. These scam-facilitators are white label providers, the boiler room operators, marketing and affiliate systems, and the payment processors. In the case of the Yukom scam, these were the boiler rooms in Israel and Mauritius, mostly Israeli payment processors, and the white-label operator SpotOption, which provided the software and trading infrastructure.

January 27, 2021

OSC vs. Cartu Brothers – The latest court order in the binary options fraud case

FinTelegram brought an update yesterday on the Cartu Brothers' case and their problems with regulators U.S. CFTC and the Canadian OSC. Both regulators accuse Canadian-born Israelis David Cartu, Jonathan Cartu, and Joshua Cartu of binary options fraud. On January 26, 2021, after a hearing, the OSC issued a new order with new dates for February 26 and March 25, 2021. At the hearing, only David Cartu was represented by but not his brothers Jonathan and Joshua.

January 25, 2021

R4I – Cartu Brothers, the GMM binary options fraud, AEGIS Labs, and Kav Sheroot Tech

The Cartu Brothers - David, Jonathan, and Joshua - are very sought after people. They are currently being sued by the U.S. CFTC and Canada's OSC for alleged binary options fraud. The CFTC claims that at least $165M has been stolen from retail investors. The CFTC did not even include all of the Cartu Brothers‘ brands in the complaint. Therefore, it is likely that a multiple of this amount was processed through their GreyMountain Management scheme and other entities. We would like to learn more about AEGIS Labs, Sandbox Media, and Kav Sheroot Tech.

December 5, 2020

U.S. CFTC Enforcement Division presents impressive 2020 results

On December 1, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Enforcement published its annual report for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY 2020). CFTC enforcement actions during FY 2020 resulted in $1,327,869,760 in ordered monetary relief, the fourth-highest total on record, and the third straight year-over-year increase. It was a significant year with some remarkable highlights.

December 5, 2020

U.S. CFTC Enforcement Division presents impressive 2020 results

November 23, 2020

FCA fines TFS-ICAP £3.44 million for printing trades

UK regulator FCA announced today that it has fined FX Options Broker TFS-ICAP Ltd £3.44m for market misconduct. Between 2008 and 2015, TFS-ICAP brokers carried out the practice of printing trades or flying prices. TFS-ICAP brokers did this openly and over a prolonged period. In 2018 the UK broker pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the U.S. and paid a $1.15 million fine.

October 11, 2020

Lessons from BitMEX Case – Arrests, warrants, and bribing regulators with coconuts

The U.S. Prosecutors charge the BitMex founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed along with the senior manager Gregory Dwyer with (a) violating the Bank Secrecy Act and (b) conspiring to violate the Bank Secrecy Act, by willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an anti-money laundering (“AML”) program at the crypto exchange or BitMEX. The charges each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

October 9, 2020

BitMEX founders resign amid regulatory enforcement actions and criminal actions

While the CySEC looks away from cryptocurrencies, the U.S. authorities and regulators proceed strictly and consistently in this regard. The U.S. CFTC and U.S. Government announced law enforcement actions action charging the BitMEX co-founders and executives Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, Gregory Dwyer, and their legal entities with operating an unregistered trading platform and violating multiple CFTC regulations as well as the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.

October 4, 2020

An alleged fraudsters lifestyle – Josh Cartu, the Cartu Bros, and the $165 million fraud complaint

FinTelegram has been reporting on the vast global binary options scam scheme around the GreyMountain Management Ltd ("GMM") of the Cartu brothers. Joshua "Josh" Cartu has contacted FinTelegram via email several times, purported to have nothing to do with the GMM's fraud scheme, and pointed to his brothers. The U.S. CFTC sees it differently and have filed a fraud complaint against him and his brothers. The end of a lavish lifestyle and Instagram celebrity?

September 27, 2020

Offshore Challenge – CFTC complaint was served on Wilfred Services.

It is often a challenge for law and regulatory enforcement agencies to identify the scammers and serve the complaint on them. Scammers, like other cybercriminals, like to hide behind offshore companies and trustees. Specialized companies like Wilfred Services Ltd on St. Vincent & the Grenadines facilitate scammers with their services. Most recently, CFTC served Wilfred Services with the PaxForex compliant in its capacity as the operator's Company Secretary.

September 27, 2020

CFTC complaint against broker PaxForex asking for full restitution and disgorgement

On Sept 24, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint against PaxForex (www.paxforex.com), an offshore CFD broker operated by Laino Group Limited which is a company registered on St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Commission alleges that PaxForex is offering services without having the legally required FCM registration. PaxForex is accepting cryptocurrencies as a means of settlement.

September 4, 2020

Binary Options Court Season – The Great Manipulation Game

The Israeli boiler room CEO Lee Elbaz was already convicted of investment fraud by a U.S. jury in August 2019. She must serve 22 years in prison and repay $28 million to investors. In Vienna, the Israeli Gal Barak has been sentenced to four years imprisonment without probation and the confiscated millions will be repaid to his victims. In the U.S. and Canada, regulators are suing the notorious Canadian-Israeli Cartu Brothers for binary options fraud. Accusations of lies and systematic manipulation are the very essence of the charges and complaints.