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Category: CFTC

January 4, 2022

U.S. CFTC orders blockchain-based binary options markets operator to pay $1.4M penalty

The U.S. CFTC ordered Delaware-registered Blockratize, Inc. d/b/a Polymarket, based in New York City, to pay a $1.4 million civil monetary penalty. Polymarket operated off-exchange event-based binary options and failure to obtain designation as a designated contract market (DCM) or registration as a swap execution facility (SEF) and did not comply with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and applicable CFTC regulations. Polymarket was ordered to cease and desist from violating the CEA and CFTC regulations.

CFTC

October 22, 2021

Wow! CFTC awarded record-breaking $200 million to whistleblower

Whistleblowers are the most potent weapon of law enforcement and regulators. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced an award of nearly $200 million to a whistleblower whose specific, credible, and timely original information significantly contributed to an already open investigation and led to successful enforcement action well as to the success of two related actions. The whistleblower’s information led the CFTC to substantial, direct evidence of wrongdoing.

CFTC
OSC

October 21, 2021

Whistleblower campaign – U.S. and Canada authorities search for Cartu Brothers!

The Israeli-Canadian Cartu Brothers - David Cartu, Joshua Cartu, and Jonathan Cartu - are notorious binary options scammers and are in big trouble with regulators and law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada. In Toronto, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has brought a fraud complaint against the brothers. The U.S.CFCT has also sued the brothers for alleged binary options fraud in Texas. David Cartu is also notorious for his proximity to Wirecard. Insiders claim he was a major Wirecard shareholder.

October 16, 2021

No Impact! CFTC penalizes Tether with $42.5M for their false USDT narrative!

Bitcoin (BTC) broke through the $60,000 mark yesterday with apparent ease despite the apparent realization that Tether has lied to the market about their stablecoin USDT. The U.S. CFTC issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against the Tether group of companies d/b/a Tether for making untrue or misleading statements and omissions of material fact in connection with USDT. Some experts believe that this bull leg could take BTC to $100,000 by the end of the year.

October 4, 2021

CFTC files fraud complaint against PrimeFX scam operators

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action against the operators of the PrimeFX fraud scheme, which falsely pretended to be CySEC regulated investment firm. The alleged perpetrators are Uduakobong Udo Inyangudo a/k/a Alexander Uti Bassey, Nigeria, along with the U.S. residents Vanessa B. Okocha, Amen M. Okundaye, Charles A. Ochi, Diego I. Okeh, Daniell N. Liggins, Victor O. Edeh, and Tochukwu Edeh. PrimeFX solicited more than $1.2 million.

October 3, 2021

Investor Alert! IFXTRADES broker scam with SecurePayment3D wants your money!

The IFXTRADES crypto broker scam is allegedly operated by Phenix tech Ltd, which has also been related to the Markets Cap scam. Would-be victims of IFTXTRADES can buy Bitcoins (BTC) or Tether (USDT) via credit and debit cards which are then deposited to the scam's wallets. We found SecurePayment3D as the facilitating payment processor. The SecurePayment3D domain is connected iMarketserviceFX, whose operators are being sued and sought by the U.S. regulator CFTC.

September 16, 2021

U.S. CFTC wins court case against fraud affiliate marketing campaigns operator!

The U.S. CFCTC announced that a Florida Court issued an order granting a permanent injunction against Ronald Montano, a resident of St. Cloud, Florida, and Montano Enterprises LLC (MEL), and requiring them to pay a combined $2.5 million in restitution and civil monetary penalty for running fraud marketing campaigns in connection with binary options trading. The CFTC filed a fraud complaint on September 27, 2018, charging Montano and MEL with solicitation a/k/a marketing fraud in connection with binary options trading.

August 11, 2021

U.S. court orders crypto broker BitMex to pay a $100M penalty to CFTC and FinCEN

The U.S. CFTC and FinCEN announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order against five companies charged with operating the BitMEX cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform. The companies are HDR Global Trading Limited, 100x Holding Limited, ABS Global Trading Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited, and HDR Global Services (Bermuda) Limited. BitMEX has received more than $11 billion in bitcoin deposits and made more than $1 billion in fees.

August 10, 2021

CFTC’s Notice of Allegation in the fraud complaint against Cartu Brothers and other Defendants

The U.S. CFTC filed a fraud complaint against David Cartu, Joshua Cartu, Jonathan Cartu ("Cartu Brothers"), and others in September 2020 alleging vast binary options fraud in the amount of $165 million. The lawsuit could not be served by the CFTC or the relevant U.S. court. So, the CFTC, through paid advertisements in media outlets such as The Times of Israel, has conceded notice of the lawsuit, including notice of meetings and deadlines. Below is yesterday's advertisement from the Times of Israel. As a courtesy to the CFTC and in support of the victims, we are also posting this Legal Notice here on FinTelegram.

May 13, 2021

Alleged binary options scammer Joshua Cartu sends greetings from Moscow

At the last Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) hearing in the fraud charges against David Cartu, Jonathan Cartu, and Joshua Cartu on March 25, 2021, Joshua Cartu did not appear. Nor has he sent a representative, although properly served. Not only the Canadian OSC but also the U.S. CFTC is looking for the Cartu Brothers. The U.S. regulator has brought a fraud complaint against the Cartu Brothers for operating illegal binary options platforms that received more than $165 million from investors. While the CFTC and OSC are looking for him, Joshua Cartu posts greetings from Moscow on Instagram.

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.