Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today that it has filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Swapnil Rege and his company SwapStar Capital LLC (SwapStar), charging the defendants with fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation, and Rege with violating a prior CFTC consent order that, among other things, barred him from trading commodity interests for at least three years. [See CFTC Press Release No. 7979-19] The action also names Reema Rege, Swapnil Rege’s spouse, as a relief defendant.

The CFTC is seeking permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants, civil monetary penalties, restitution, and disgorgement. In addition, the CFTC is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Rege from violating the 2019 consent order, and further prohibiting the defendants from committing further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged.

Case Background

According to the complaint, the defendants fraudulently solicited individuals to lend or invest money based on material misrepresentations, including that such funds would be invested in securities, that lenders and investors would receive a fixed monthly, quarterly, or annual return, in some cases as high as 40% to 60%, and that lenders and investors could redeem their funds immediately or on short notice. The complaint further alleges that the defendants then used a portion of the solicited funds to actively trade commodity interests through accounts the defendants owned, or accounts that were nominally owned by Rege’s spouse but controlled by Rege. The complaint also alleges that the defendants misappropriated some of the solicited funds for their personal benefit, including to pay for personal expenses and to pay returns to other account holders in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme. In addition, the complaint alleges that Rege failed to disclose that he was barred for at least three years from trading any commodity interests under the 2019 consent order.

In addition, the complaint alleges that Rege violated the 2019 consent order by continuing to trade commodity interests on or subject to the rules of any registered entity.   

Related SEC Action

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also announced that it filed a related action in the matter SEC v. Swapnil J. Rege and SwapStar Capital, LLC, 21-cv-19313 (D.N.J. Oct. 26, 2021).

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The CFTC thanks and acknowledges the assistance of the SEC and the New Jersey Bureau of Securities.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Benjamin J. Rankin, Trevor Kokal, Patryk J. Chudy, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.