The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced that Judge William J. Zloch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an Order of Default Final Judgment against Defendant Rico Omar Cox (AKA Omar Negron) of Dania Beach, Florida, requiring restitution of $381,000 and imposing a $560,000 civil monetary penalty for defrauding his clients in connection with commodity futures trading.
The Order also requires disgorgement of $5,800 of ill-gotten gains obtained by Cox in the form of fraudulent performance fees, permanently enjoins Cox from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act as charged, and imposes permanent trading and registration bans on him. Cox has never been registered with the CFTC in any capacity.
The Order arises out of a CFTC enforcement Complaint originally filed on February 4, 2016. The Order finds that, beginning in at least August 2010 through March 2015, Cox fraudulently solicited at least $499,000 from at least nine clients for his trading services for managed commodity futures accounts. Excluding client withdrawals, Cox lost virtually all of the funds trading the accounts using the clients’ login credentials.
The Order also finds that Cox distributed false daily account statements and/or screenshots showing profits to conceal his losses, and that he failed to disclose to his clients that he had 2013 felony convictions in Florida for fraud, grand theft, and acting as an unlicensed mortgage broker. Cox also failed to register with the CFTC as a CTA as he was required to do.
The CFTC cautions victims that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost because the 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.