Release: 5391-07

For Release: September 26, 2007

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Files Action Against Gregg R. Amerman of Alpharetta, Georgia, and Three Companies that He Controlled

Complaint Alleges Misappropriation of More Than $675,000 in Customer Funds

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the filing of a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Gregg R. Amerman of Alpharetta, Georgia, and three Georgia companies he controlled: World Alliance Group, Inc. (World Alliance), Gregg Amerman Companies, Inc. (Amerman Inc.), and Zero Doubt, LLC (Zero Doubt). (CFTC v. Amerman, et al., No. 1:07-CV-2280).

The complaint, filed on September 18, 2007, alleges that from at least September 2002 to April 2004, Amerman solicited nearly $1.2 million from 22 public customers to invest in a commodity pool he operated named Dream Venture Group LLC (DVG). DVG, in turn, allegedly invested the funds in a hedge fund named Tech Traders, Inc. (Tech Traders), and negotiated an undisclosed fee arrangement that would ultimately provide Amerman funding for his companies, World Alliance, Amerman Inc., and Zero Doubt. Tech Traders, along with other companies and individuals, is a subject in an ongoing CFTC action in which it and other defendants have been ordered by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to pay more than $30 million in sanctions (see CFTC Press Release 5357-07, July 23, 2007).

As alleged, during the relevant time period, Amerman invested more than $1 million of the solicited funds with Tech Traders. In turn, Tech Traders sent almost $1.3 million back to the DVG bank account. Though, at best, Amerman was entitled to approximately $135,000 in fees under the undisclosed fee agreement, he allegedly took more than $810,000 for himself and the companies he controlled. Accordingly, at least $675,000 of the $810,000 that Amerman retained from the funds he received from Tech Traders was misappropriated.

The CFTC’s complaint also alleges that Amerman: (1) distributed false account statements to customers which reported profits that were higher than the profits Tech Trader reported to him; (2) commingled pool funds with his personal funds and the funds of the relief defendants; and (3) acted illegally as an unregistered commodity pool operator.

The complaint names World Alliance, Amerman, Inc. and Zero Doubt as relief defendants. According to the complaint, Amerman transferred more than $375,000 of the funds he retained to these three companies. The complaint alleges that World Alliance, Amerman, Inc. and Zero Doubt provided no services and have no legitimate claim to any customer funds. Therefore, the complaint seeks disgorgement of any customer funds they received.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance provided by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in this matter.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this matter: Elizabeth R. Streit, David A. Terrell, Joy H. McCormack, Scott R. Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner.

Media Contacts
Ianthe Zabel
202-418-5080

Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: September 26, 2007