德州男子与旗下公司商品欺诈案缺席判决：判付逾1300万美元
美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）11月3日宣布，美国联邦地区法院德克萨斯州北区对 Walter Dunning Larrick III 及其公司 Cambridge Financial Advisors LLC 作出缺席判决，认定两名被告参与商品欺诈。法院判令被告支付民事罚款 9,767,625 美元，并支付赔偿 3,255,875 美元，合计逾 1,300 万美元。
法院在缺席判决中认定，被告以欺诈手段招揽参与者并挪用了逾 300 万美元资金。被告虚假宣称会把参与者的资金用于交易期货与期权，包括天然气、石油和黄金等品种；对与他们进行商品交易的盈利前景作出重大虚假陈述与遗漏；并向参与者发出虚假账户报表，以掩盖其不当行为。
法院还认定，被告挪用参与者资金的方式包括：以类似庞氏骗局的方式向既有参与者付款、支付 Larrick 的个人开支，以及把资金汇往哥斯达黎加的离岸账户。
本案源于 CFTC 在 2023 年提起的民事执法诉讼。CFTC 当年的起诉书指控，Larrick 与 Cambridge 在 2020 年 11 月至 2023 年 1 月期间，以交易期货与期权为名，诱使至少 70 名参与者投入逾 364 万美元，其后挪用了大部分资金。此次缺席判决结清了 CFTC 2023 年起诉中的全部索赔。
除金钱判罚外，法院还永久禁止被告实施其被指控的违反《商品交易法》与 CFTC 规则的行为，并对被告施加永久交易禁令与注册禁令。
（来源：美国商品期货交易委员会）
Texas Man and His Company Ordered to Pay Over $13 Million in CFTC Commodities Fraud Case
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on November 3 that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a default judgment against Walter Dunning Larrick III and Cambridge Financial Advisors LLC for their participation in a commodities fraud scheme. The court ordered the defendants to pay a $9,767,625 civil monetary penalty and $3,255,875 in restitution, more than $13 million in total.
In entering the default judgment, the court found the defendants fraudulently solicited and misappropriated more than $3 million from participants. The defendants falsely represented they would use participant funds to trade futures and options, including those involving natural gas, oil, and gold; made material misrepresentations and omissions about the profitability of commodity trading with them; and issued false account statements to conceal their misconduct.
The court further found the defendants misappropriated participant funds by making payments to existing participants in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme, paying Larrick's personal expenses, and sending funds to offshore accounts in Costa Rica.
The default judgment resolves all claims in the CFTC's 2023 complaint. In that complaint, the CFTC alleged that from at least November 2020 through at least January 2023, Larrick and Cambridge fraudulently induced at least 70 people to invest over $3.6 million in a purported commodity pool and misappropriated most of the pool funds.
The court also permanently enjoined the defendants from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged, and imposed permanent trading and registration bans.
(Source: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission)
来源：美国商品期货交易委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）位于华盛顿的总部入口（1155 21st Street NW，Lafayette Centre）。ajay_suresh 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Entrance of the CFTC headquarters at 1155 21st Street NW, Lafayette Centre, Washington, D.C. Photo by ajay_suresh, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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