Release: 5218-06

For Release: August 16, 2006

Federal Court Orders James de Wet, a South African Resident, to Pay Over $1 Million for Violating the Commodity Exchange Act

Court Finds that de Wet Made Misrepresentations on his Website at www.teamforex.com and Orders Him to Pay Restitution and a Civil Monetary Penalty and to Disgorge Ill-Gotten Gains

Washington, D.C.— The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that the Honorable Harold Baer, Jr., United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, ordered defendant James de Wet, a South African resident who did business under the name Team Forex International (Team Forex) at the www.teamforex.com website, to pay $828,390 in restitution to victims of the fraud and a $120,000 civil monetary penalty. In addition, the court ordered de Wet to disgorge $63,070 in ill-gotten compensation received as a result of violating the Commodity Exchange Act.

The monetary judgment order, entered on July 31, 2006, resolves charges against de Wet arising from the CFTC’s complaint in CFTC v. James de Wet, 05 CV 8401 (S.D.N.Y) (see CFTC Press Release 5126-05 October 5, 2005). According to the complaint, since October 2002, at least 200 customers, including 35 U.S. residents, opened foreign currency (forex) futures trading accounts to be managed by de Wet.

The order supplements a permanent injunction order entered on April 10, 2006, which prohibits the defendant from engaging in any business activities related to commodity futures and options trading. In that order, the court found that de Wet engaged in the fraudulent solicitation of clients by making misrepresentations about Team Forex’s past performance. The actual trading results of de Wet’s managed accounts were, in certain instances, materially different from the performance record published on the Team Forex website, according to the April 10 order. The court also found that de Wet’s website falsely claimed that the purported trading results were “audited.”

The following CFTC staff members are responsible for this case: Karin N. Roth, Linda Santiago, David W. MacGregor, Lenel Hickson, Stephen J. Obie, and Richard Wagner.

Media Contacts
Alan Sobba
202-418-5080

Dennis Holden
202-418-5088
 

Last Updated: April 22, 2010