Release: #4638-02
For Release: May 7, 2002

CFTC SETTLES FOREIGN CURRENCY FRAUD CASE AGAINST OHIO DEFENDANTS

CFTC Obtains Consent Orders Against International Monetary Group, Inc., Currency Management Group, Inc. and Their Officers – Anthony and Emido Dellarciprete and Jason Lemmon – Permanently Barring Them From Trading Futures and Options

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that it settled an enforcement action against Emido Dellarciprete of Canal Fulton, Ohio, Anthony Dellarciprete of Barberton, Ohio, and their companies, International Monetary Group, Inc. and Currency Management Group, Inc. The CFTC also settled with Jason Lemmon of Akron, Ohio, the sales manager of the companies. The CFTC action, filed in September 2001 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, charged the defendants with fraudulently offering illegal options on foreign currency and misappropriating customer funds. (see CFTC News Release 4528-01, June 20, 2001). The consent orders, entered against the defendants on April 30, 2002, permanently bar defendants from trading futures and options contracts and orders them to pay up to $2.9 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties pursuant to a payment plan.

As set forth in the consent orders, from December 1999 through June 2001, the defendants fraudulently solicited approximately $3.4 million from at least 82 customers nationwide, purportedly to purchase options on foreign currency. However, instead of buying options, the defendants used almost $2.9 million of those funds for personal expenses, such as entertainment, automobiles, and furniture. According to the orders, to hide their misappropriation, the defendants sent reports to investors showing false trading transactions and returned approximately $540,000 to some customers, falsely representing that those funds represented foreign currency profits. In consenting to the entry of the orders, the defendants neither admitted nor denied the findings in the orders or the allegations in the complaint.

Pursuant to the consent orders, the defendants are jointly and severally liable for paying restitution to customers of approximately $2.9 million pursuant to ten-year, income-based payment plans. The orders also direct Anthony and Emido Dellarciprete to liquidate all of their real and personal property purchased using customer funds, including their homes, and to apply the proceeds to their restitution obligation. In addition, approximately $400,000 is available for distribution to defrauded customers as a result of an order freezing the assets of the defendants obtained by the CFTC on June 18, 2001. (see CFTC News Release 4528-01, June 20, 2001). The orders also impose a contingent civil monetary penalty of up to $770,000 each on Emido and Anthony Dellarciprete and up to $220,000 on Jason Lemmon, also payable pursuant to the payment plans upon satisfaction of their restitution obligations.

The orders permanently bar each defendant from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act as charged, from trading for others, from registering or claiming exemption from registration with the CFTC, and from acting as an agent or officer of any person registered, required to be registered, or exempt from registration. A copy of the orders may be found at the following links:

www.cftc.gov/files/enf/02orders/enfimg-order.pdf
www.cftc.gov/files/enf/02orders/enfimg-lemmon.pdf
www.cftc.gov/files/enf/02orders/enfimg-emido.pdf
www.cftc.gov/files/enf/02orders/enfimg-cmg.pdf, and
www.cftc.gov/files/enf/02orders/enfimg-anthony.pdf.

The following staff of the Division of Enforcement are responsible for this action: Richard Foelber, Elizabeth Padgett and David Reed.

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

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