Today the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the filing of a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas charging Damien Moran and a series of companies he controlled, including Bright Future Financial LLC (d/b/a Oakhurst Metals) and Crown Bullion, Inc, with fraud.  According to the CFTC’s complaint, Moran used these companies to orchestrate a type of fraud that has become all too common in recent years.  The complaint alleges that Moran solicited individuals via radio advertisements, telephone, social media, and his companies’ websites to tout the safety of precious metals investments, then helped the individuals open self-directed IRAs for which his companies would be authorized representatives, issued fraudulent invoices to the IRA custodians, and misappropriated the funds used to pay the invoices.  Moran and his companies received over $7 million from over 100 victims.

What makes Moran’s fraud—and others like it that I have called attention to before[1]—particularly harmful is that according to the complaint he directed his unlawful attention toward predominantly elderly and retired persons with little investment experience, bilking them of their hard-earned retirement savings.  This segment of our population is particularly vulnerable to frauds such as this one as they are least likely to be able to recover from falling victim to one.[2]  In this case, Moran played upon victims’ fears of high market volatility and impending economic catastrophe due to the COVID pandemic and political elections to sell the purported security of investing in precious metals. Instead, the money ended up in his personal bank accounts.  The CFTC has issued customer advisories warning against precious metals investment schemes,[3] especially by unregistered entities and individuals, and I once again urge all members of the public to stay informed.

Finally, I want to expressly recognize the hard work of the Division of Enforcement staff who have pursued this investigation and are bringing this case, including Carlin Metzger, Sincere Belton, Joseph Patrick, David Terrell, Scott Williamson, and Robert Howell.