June 25, 2013

CFTC Charges North Carolina Resident C. David Wright with Commodity Pool Fraud

Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that on June 24, 2013, it filed a civil enforcement action charging C. David Wright of Iron Station, North Carolina, with operating a $1 million commodity pool Ponzi scheme and misappropriating participants’ funds. Wright has never been registered with the CFTC.

The CFTC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, charges Wright with soliciting over $1 million from individuals to participate in the fraudulent scheme from at least August 2008 through March 2013. Although Wright told participants that their funds would be invested in a variety of investments, including commodity futures, he in fact misappropriated nearly all of the funds, using them to pay personal expenses and to make so-called profit payments to participants, as is typical of a Ponzi scheme.

In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks a permanent injunction from future violations of federal commodities laws, permanent registration and trading bans, restitution to defrauded pool participants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and civil monetary penalties.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in this matter.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Jennifer E. Smiley, Mary Beth Spear, Ava Gould, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger and Richard B. Wagner.

Last Updated: June 25, 2013