• The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action against five individuals, accusing them of running a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme.
• The defendants allegedly promised “daily returns” of between 0.9% to 2.8% and claimed they would double the customers’ investments within four to eight months.
• The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, registration bans and permanent trading, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.
CFTC Charges Five Individuals in Fraudulent Digital Asset Trading Scheme
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action against five individuals who were associated with a business known as Icomtech for running a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme. These individuals include David Carmona, Juan Arellano Parra, Moses Valdez, David Brend and Marco A. Ruiz Ochoa who collectively solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from over 170 individuals in the U.S and abroad with false promises of daily returns ranging from 0.9%-2.8%.
Scheme Targeted Spanish-Speaking Communities
The defendants primarily targeted Spanish-speaking communities by falsely leading them to believe that their investments would be doubled in four to eight months if they invested in Bitcoin or other digital assets through Icomtech’s platform but instead misappropriated the funds leading many investors to lose all their money invested in this scheme.
U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District Files Indictment
In October 2022, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District unsealed an indictment charging those involved with wire fraud in connection with the Icomtech scheme further confirming that these individuals had indeed committed fraud by operating this fraudulent digital asset trading scheme as was previously alleged by CFTC’s complaint as well..
CFTC Seeks Restitution & Penalties
In light of these events, CFTC is now seeking restitution for victims along with disgorgement from those profited inappropriately out of this scheme ,civil monetary penalties as well as registration bans on future trading activities along with permanent injunctions barring any further violations of commodity exchange act and CFTC regulations .
Encouraging Customers To Report Suspicious Activity
The division also encourages customers as well as other individuals to report any suspicious activities or information that may involve potential breaches of commodity trading laws so that appropriate measures can be taken .