Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced that it filed proposed Consent Orders with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida resolving claims against Daniel Cologero; Surujpaul Sahdeo; Randy Rosseau; Hemraj Singh; Green Knight Investments, LLC; Bull Run Advantage, LLC; SR&B Investment Enterprises, Inc.; and King Royalty, LLC (collectively, “Settling Defendants”), resolving claims originally brought on September 9, 2020.[1]  As the Consent Order indicates, Settling Defendants are accused of orchestrating a foreign exchange (forex) operated by a different, non-settling defendant, Avinash Singh, and his company, Highrise Advantage LLC (Highrise).[2]  Singh fraudulently solicited and misappropriated funds through Highrise, which he operated as a master commodity pool, with the Settling Defendants operating (or being) feeder pools that directed participant funds to Highrise.

Singh conducted his solicitations mostly through word of mouth, including through solicitations by the Settling Defendants.  He represented to potential participants that he was a successful trader with more than ten years of forex trading experience.  He also told them that his investments were low risk and had a track record of positive gains and no losses.  Notwithstanding his representations, Singh’s trading only ever involved a small portion of the funds entrusted to him, and this trading resulted only in losses.

Singh also appears to have pooled the funds received from the various feeder pools together, and also commingled them with other, non-pool participant funds.  Singh and Highrise distributed false monthly statements showing profits and no losses every month, and these fictitious results were repeated by the Settling Defendants to the participants in the feeder pools.  Ultimately, the fraudulent scheme accepted more than $57 million from more than 1,300 pool participants, while using less than $2,408,000 for forex trading—on which it realized losses, not gains.  Singh and Highrise misappropriated some of the funds that were entrusted to them, and used a portion of the funds to make payments to some of the participants and feeder pools that were derived from other participant funds and not trading profits—in other words, Ponzi-type payments.[3]

The Settling Defendants are ordered to pay, collectively, more than $6.5 million in restitution, as well as $3.8 million in civil monetary penalties.  In addition, they will be barred from trading and registration with the CFTC.

Investor education and enforcement actions are critical to our efforts to prevent fraudsters from bilking hard-working investors.[4]  Accordingly, I strongly encourage all members of the public to stay informed about the potential scams and abuses in forex markets by visiting our investor advisory page.[5]  Fraudsters offering guaranteed, or unusually high, returns—or both—should in particular prompt scrutiny and additional diligence before transferring any funds.

I recognize the efforts of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement, including, specifically, Susan B. Padove, Joy H. McCormack, Elizabeth M. Streit, Scott R. Williamson, and Robert T. Howell.  I also want to recognize the work of our colleagues at the DOJ, which is pursuing criminal charges against Singh.