Release: 4607-02
For Release: February 12, 2002

FLORIDA COMMODITY TRADING ADVISORS SETTLE CFTC FRAUD ACTION

Defendants Fred and Jeanne Monte Permanently Banned From Trading Futures or Options

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the settlement of an enforcement action filed on September 29, 1999, against Fred Monte and Jeanne Monte, both of Boca Raton, Florida, and their company, Comp. Tech Ltd. Inc. (Comp Tech). The CFTC complaint, filed in federal district court for the Southern District of Florida, alleged that Fred and Jeanne Monte fraudulently solicited the public to purchase Comp Tech’s foreign currency trading system (see CFTC News Release 4336-99, November 12, 1999).

Specifically, the complaint alleges that, from 1997 through 1999, the defendants solicited prospective customers to purchase the Comp Tech trading system by making numerous false claims, including that they earned $300 per day through currency futures trading, that Comp Tech’s trading system was successful 83 percent of the time, and that Fred Monte was an experienced futures trader. According to the complaint, the Comp Tech trading system had not generated any actual aggregate net profits and the little trading Fred Monte executed -- either for himself or others -- resulted in aggregate net losses.

The defendants, in consenting to the entry of the orders, neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the complaint or the orders’ findings. The orders enjoin them from further violations of the anti-fraud provisions alleged in the complaint. The orders also

1) require Fred Monte to pay a civil monetary penalty of up to $110,000, pursuant to a ten-year payment plan;

2) prohibit the defendants from trading on any futures market for themselves or others; and

3) bar them from seeking registration with the CFTC or acting in any capacity requiring CFTC registration.

To see a copy of the settlement order, go to the following CFTC Internet web address:
http://www.cftc.gov/enf/enfcomplaints.htm.

Case Contact:
David A. Reed, Deputy Director
Division of Enforcement
(202) 418-5337

THE CFTC APPRECIATES YOUR COVERAGE. SINCE WE DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR FINAL STORY, WE ASK THAT YOU PLEASE SHARE IT WITH US BY E- MAILING OR FAXING A COPY TO OUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE AT:
[email protected]; Public Affairs Fax 202-418-5525.

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