October 22, 2014

Federal Court Orders Boston Resident John B. Wilson and His Company, JBW Capital LLC, to Pay a Civil Penalty of More than $2.8 Million for Commodity Pool Fraud

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that the Honorable Richard G. Stearns of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a Final Judgment against Defendants John B. Wilson and his company, JBW Capital LLC (JBW) (collectively, the Defendants), both of Boston, Massachusetts, for fraud and registration violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). The court’s Final Judgment orders the Defendants, jointly and severally, to pay a $2.86 million civil penalty; it permanently enjoins the Defendants from further violations of the CEA, as charged; and it imposes permanent trading and registration bans on the Defendants.

The court’s action stems from a CFTC Complaint filed on September 28, 2012, that charged Defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the CEA in connection with a commodity pool by falsely representing to investors on multiple occasions the pool’s Net Asset Value (NAV). The Complaint also charged Defendants with failing to register with the CFTC as Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs) (see CFTC Complaint and Press Release 6372-12).

On May 16, 2014, the court granted Summary Judgment to the CFTC and found that Defendants had defrauded and deceived their pool participants by misrepresenting on multiple occasions the NAV of the pool. For example, in September 2008, the Defendants falsely represented the pool’s NAV to be $2,475,941, when the actual NAV was $1,149,628, according to the court’s findings. The court also found that Defendants had illegally acted as unregistered CPOs.

The CFTC acknowledges the assistance of the Massachusetts Securities Division in this matter.

CFTC staff members responsible for this matter include W. Derek Shakabpa, Judith M. Slowly, David W. Oakland, Patryk Chudy, David Acevedo, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

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CFTC’s Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory

The CFTC has issued several customer protection Fraud Advisories that provide the warning signs of fraud, including the Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory, which warns customers about a type of fraud that involves individuals and firms, often unregistered, offering investments in commodity pools.

Customers can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the CFTC Division of Enforcement via a Toll-Free Hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382) or file a tip or complaint online. 

Media Contact
Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: October 22, 2014