February 14, 2014

CFTC Revokes Registration of Commodity Trading Advisor Prestige Capital Advisors, LLC

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the revocation of the registration of Prestige Capital Advisors, LLC (Prestige) of Charlotte, North Carolina, as a Commodity Trading Advisor.

On January 2, 2014, the CFTC Judgment Officer issued an Initial Decision on Default against Prestige finding that it was statutorily disqualified from CFTC registration based on the Order of default judgment and permanent injunction entered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on January 25, 2013 (see CFTC Press Release 6615-13, June 20, 2013). On February 3, 2014, the Judgment Officer’s Initial Decision became the Order of the Commission.

The District Court’s Orders, entered on January 25 and February 22, 2013, find that Prestige fraudulently solicited and accepted more than $4.7 million from multiple pool participants for investment in one or more commodity pools that traded commodities and futures contracts, among other things. The Orders also find that Prestige misappropriated pool participant funds, posted false trading returns on a website called BarclayHedge (where fund managers could post unverified historical returns for prospective clients to view); sent false trading results to at least one Prestige pool participant; and issued false account statements. As a result, the court ordered Prestige to pay approximately $6.9 million in civil monetary penalties and restitution of over $4.1 million.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Eugenia Vroustouris, Daniel Jordan, Michael Loconte, Erica Bodin, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner.

Media Contact
Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: February 14, 2014