May 6, 2013

CFTC Charges Bostonian David Prescott with Forex Pool Fraud

Court enters order freezing Defendant’s assets and protecting books and records

Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that on May 3, 2013, the Honorable C.N. Clevert, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin issued an Order freezing the assets of Defendant David Prescott, individually and doing business as Cambridge Currency Partners (Prescott). The court’s Order also prohibits the destruction of books and records and sets a telephonic status hearing for May 15, 2013.

The court’s Order stems from a CFTC civil Complaint filed on April 30, 2013, charging Prescott with fraudulently soliciting individuals to invest in Cambridge’s off-exchange foreign currency (forex) pool and then misappropriating their monies. According to the Complaint, from at least June 2010 to the present, Prescott misappropriated at least $455,000 of pool participants’ monies, using some of those funds for air travel, hotel accommodations, and gambling. The Complaint also alleges that Prescott defrauded pool participants and prospective pool participants by misrepresenting the risks involved in forex trading and executing demand promissory notes in their favor that promised the repayment of the note amount and monthly interest payments, knowing or recklessly disregarding that he could not make those payments by his forex trading.

Additionally, the Complaint alleges that Prescott failed to inform participants and prospective participants that under the name of David Weeks, he previously had been convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and wire fraud, and perjury, and had been ordered to pay restitution of over $1 million to defrauded investors and was permanently enjoined from violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act.

The Complaint also charges Prescott with engaging in the alleged misconduct without the benefit of registration as a Commodity Pool Operator.

In the continuing litigation, the CFTC is seeking repayment of pool participants’ losses, repayment of funds received by the Defendant, civil monetary penalties, and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Defendant from violating the federal commodity laws and from engaging in further trading.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case: Diane M. Romaniuk, Mary Elizabeth Spear, Ava M. Gould, Scott R. Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger and Richard B. Wagner.

Last Updated: May 6, 2013