Release: 5338-07

For Release: May 22, 2007

Nevada Federal Court Orders Sham Psychologist/Commodity Futures Trading Guru to Pay Penalty for Internet Misrepresentations

Las Vegas Resident, Doing Business as the Mastery Group International, Misrepresented the Ease of Making Money Using His Sabaki Futures Trading Method

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Judge Kent J. Dawson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada entered a consent order of permanent injunction against Richard McCall, doing business as the Mastery Group International, of Las Vegas, ordering him to pay a $15,000 civil monetary penalty.

The order stems from a CFTC complaint filed on February 3, 2006, alleging that, between March and June 2004, McCall used an Internet website and workshops to misrepresent the profitability of his Sabaki-Micro Trading for Futures method. Furthermore, McCall misrepresented his professional background and falsely asserted that trading the financial markets was no more complicated or dangerous than operating a lemonade stand (see CFTC News Release 5170-06, March 20, 2006).

The order, entered on May 15, 2007, finds that McCall, on his website, falsely held himself out as a former clinical psychologist with several educational degrees and as one of the top 5% of futures traders worldwide. In fact, McCall is not a licensed clinical psychologist and has no educational qualifications as a clinical psychologist. As well, McCall was not in the top 5% of futures traders worldwide and consistently lost money trading futures. McCall’s website failed to disclose his unprofitable trading results and the fact that no one made money trading futures following the Sabaki Futures Trading method.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff were responsible for this case: Louis Traeger, Judith McCorkle, William Janulis, Cynthia Cannon, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner.

Media Contacts
Ianthe Zabel
202-418-5080

Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: July 16, 2007