August 9, 2019

Federal Court Orders Defendants to Pay More Than $2.7 Million in a Forex Fraud Scheme

Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a default judgment against defendants Kevin Andre Perry and Lucrative Pips Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia in an enforcement action in which the Commission alleged the defendants fraudulently solicited and misappropriated nearly $700,000 from more than 50 clients in a forex trading scheme.

The court’s order requires the defendants to pay $694,799 in restitution to defrauded clients and a civil monetary penalty of more than $2 million.  Additionally, the defendants are now permanently enjoined from engaging in conduct that violates the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), and are permanently banned from registering with the CFTC and trading in any CFTC-regulated markets.

The CFTC’s case was filed September 28, 2018. [See Press Release 7812-19] In its motion for default judgment, the CFTC presented evidence that Perry fraudulently and repeatedly told prospective pool participants that the initial funds they gave to the defendants were fully “guaranteed” against trading losses and that their accounts would grow in value approximately 200% to 350% in less than 60 days. When pool participants attempted to withdraw their funds at the end of their trading cycle, the defendants knowingly made false statements to explain why they could not return pool participants’ funds. 

 A related criminal case was filed against Perry in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on December 12, 2018.  See Case No. 1:18-cr-00486-WMR-AJB-1, USA v. Perry.  The criminal case, which includes one count of wire fraud, is pending before Judge William M. Ray, II.  

The CFTC cautions victims that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost, because wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets.  The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Jason Gizzarelli, Traci Rodriguez, Patricia Gomersall, and Paul Hayeck.     

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 CFTC’s Foreign Currency (Forex) Fraud Advisory

The CFTC has issued several customer protection Fraud Advisories that provide the warning signs of fraud. The Foreign Currency Trading (Forex) Fraud Advisory states that the CFTC has witnessed a sharp rise in Forex trading scams in recent years and helps customers identify this potential fraud.

-CFTC-