The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has just announced that an individual named William H. Powderly IV of New Hope, Pennsylvania, has been fined $1,083,138 by the federal court in Illinois for fraudulently soliciting customers and distributing false account statements.
Powderly misled customers, letting them know that he and a university professor developed a commodity futures trading program that generated exceptional hypothetical trading results and that “beta” testing of this system generated consistent gains without a single day of loss, he then accepted $1,278,000 from seven customers and sustained net trading losses in excess of $1 million over a 10-month period.
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.
Powderly now has to pay $1,069,300 in restitution to defrauded customers. The individual has also been imposed permanent trading and registration bans. The court has prohibited Powderly from further violations of the CEA and CFTC Regulations.