Release: 5166-06

For Release: March 15, 2006

US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Charges New York Firm and its President with Stealing Millions in Foreign Currency Scam

US District Court Judge Freezes Defendants' Assets and Prohibits Defendants from Destroying Documents

Washington, D.C.— The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the filing of a complaint in federal district court against Falco & Stevens, Inc. (F&S) of New York, New York, and its President, Vyacheslav Nass (Nass), of Brooklyn, New York. The CFTC complaint charges that the defendants illegally sold foreign currency futures (forex) contracts to over 100 retail customers, fraudulently solicited retail customers, and misappropriated millions of dollars of customer funds, all in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

Based on the CFTC’s motion, the Honorable Shira A. Scheindlin of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order freezing the assets of the defendants and prohibiting the destruction of business records.

Specifically, the complaint charges that beginning in August 2005, F&S made false promises that guaranteed customers large profits without risk in foreign currency trading. According to the complaint, however, instead of trading customer monies as promised, F&S and Nass misappropriated more than $4.3 million of customer funds. Customer funds were sent to various overseas bank accounts in the names of foreign companies, according to the complaint.

The CFTC complaint seeks a permanent injunction against each defendant prohibiting them from further violating the CEA, disgorgement of all ill-gotten gains, repayment of funds stolen from defrauded customers, the imposition of civil monetary penalties, and other remedial and ancillary relief.

The defendants have never been registered with the Commission in any capacity.

The following Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case: Joseph Rosenberg, Philip Rix, Steven Ringer, Lenel Hickson, Jr., Stephen J. Obie, and Richard Wagner.

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The CFTC encourages members of the public to bring to our attention any suspicious activities involving futures or commodity options, including matters involving foreign currency (forex) investments or suspicious Internet websites.

You may contact the CFTC at 1-866-FON-CFTC (1-866-366-2382), visit us at our Customer Protection web page: (/cftc/cftccustomer.htm), or fill out our Internet Report Form identifying your concerns (/enf/enfform.htm).

In addition, the CFTC publishes a series of Consumer Advisories at /cftc/cftccustomer.htm#advisory alerting the public to warning signs of possible fraudulent activity and offering precautions individuals should take before committing funds.

Media Contacts
Alan Sobba
202-418-5080

Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: April 12, 2007