February 15, 2012

Georgia Federal Court Enters Order for Permanent Injunction against Joseph L. Autry, Jr. and His Company, Autry Capital Management LLC, for Commodity Fraud

Autry also was sentenced to 27 months in prison in a related criminal action

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it obtained a federal court summary judgment order for a permanent injunction against CFTC defendants Joseph L. Autry, Jr. and his company, Autry Capital Management LLC (ACM), both of Statesboro, Ga. The order imposes permanent trading and registration bans and a $1,000 civil monetary penalty on Autry and ACM. The court noted that in a related criminal action on July 21, 2011, Autry was sentenced to 27 months in prison and required to pay $155,200 in restitution to defrauded customers (U.S. v. Autry, 6:10-cr-22, Doc 32).

The order, entered by Judge B. Avant Edenfield of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, resolves a CFTC anti-fraud enforcement action filed in September 2010, charging Autry and ACM with fraud, misappropriation, and issuing false statements to customers in connection with a commodity futures Ponzi scheme (see CFTC Press Release 5902-10, September 21, 2010).

The order finds that beginning in 2008, Autry solicited and accepted funds from seven customers who collectively invested over $265,000 to trade commodity futures contracts through ACM. Autry used part of the funds to pay his personal debts and expenses, lost part of the funds through trading, and issued false account statements to some investors showing they had earned profits. The order also finds that Autry used portions of customer funds to pay fraudulent returns to earlier investors.

The CFTC thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Linda Y. Peng, David W. MacGregor, Michael McLaughlin, Lenel Hickson, Jr., Stephen J. Obie, and Vincent A. McGonagle.

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Last Updated: February 15, 2012