CFTC Release: 5077-05
For Release: May 19, 2005

U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION CHARGES OKLAHOMA RESIDENT RANDY STEVE LANIER WITH DEFRAUDING CUSTOMERS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the filing of an enforcement action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against Randy Steve Lanier, of Hinton, Oklahoma. The complaint alleges that, between September 2001 and October 2003, Lanier misappropriated customer money, made misrepresentations to customers, and distributed false account information to them. Most, if not all, of the customers allegedly either knew Lanier or were from Lanier’s area of Oklahoma.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that Lanier misappropriated more than $164,000 by siphoning off funds from customer accounts located at futures commission merchants (FCMs), and by soliciting customers to give him funds to trade commodity futures and options and then stealing the money by depositing it in accounts he controlled at Oklahoma banks. The complaint goes on to allege that to conceal his theft of customer funds, Lanier sent his customers fraudulent account statements and fictitious Internal Revenue Service Forms 1099. According to the complaint, these phony documents led many of Lanier’s customers to believe that their trading accounts were very profitable. The complaint also alleges that in making payments to customers who sought to withdraw their funds, Lanier devised fake wire transfers to make it appear that customer funds had been withdrawn from their allegedly profitable trading accounts.

In its action, the CFTC seeks, among other things, repayment to injured customers, the return of ill-gotten gains, monetary penalties, a permanent injunction and trading prohibitions.

The CFTC thanks the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and the Internal Revenue Service for their assistance in this matter.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case: Kenneth McCracken, Lacey Dingman, and Richard Glaser.

# # #

Media Contacts
Alan Sobba
(202) 418-5080
Dennis Holden
(202) 418-5088
CFTC Office of External Affairs

Staff Contact
Richard Glaser
Associate Director
CFTC Division of Enforcement
(202) 418-5358

Related Document
Complaint