Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it has revoked the Commodity Pool Operator and Commodity Trading Advisor registrations of Phy Capital Investments LLC of Miami, Florida and the Associated Person registration of its owner Fabio Bretas de Freitas, formerly of Miami, Florida.

The CFTC initiated revocation proceedings against Phy Capital and Bretas on May 7, 2020. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8163-20] CFTC Judgment Officer Kavita Kumar Puri issued an Initial Decision on Default on August 31, 2020, which was finalized on September 30, 2020. Puri found that Phy Capital and Bretas are subject to statutory disqualification from CFTC registration based on an order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that, among other things, (1) found that Phy Capital and Bretas misappropriated commodity pool funds and issued false quarterly statements to pool participants, (2) permanently enjoined Phy Capital and Bretas from further violations of the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged, and (3) ordered Phy Capital and Bretas jointly and severally to pay more than $17.2 million in monetary relief. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8052-19]

Puri also found that Bretas is subject to disqualification from CFTC registration based on his conviction for conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and wire fraud in connection with the same activities, as entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 28, 2020. [See Case No. S3 19 Cr. 257 (LTS)] 

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Elizabeth M. Streit, Joy McCormack, Matthew Edelstein, Stacie Pan, Scott Williamson, and Robert Howell.