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This is a photo of the National Register of Historic Places listing with reference number 7000063

Sunday, October 25, 2015

COURT ORDERS $31 MILLION RESTITUTION AND PENALTY PAYMENT AGAINST MAN, COMPANY FOR FRAUD

FROM:  U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 
October 20, 2015

Federal Court in Ohio Orders over $31 Million in Restitution and Civil Monetary Penalties against John R. Bullar and His Company, Executive Management Advisors L.L.C., for Commodity Pool Operator and Commodity Trading Advisor Fraud and Ponzi Scheme

In a Related Criminal Action, John R. Bullar was sentenced to 8 Years 4 Months in Prison and Ordered to Pay over $6 Million in Criminal Restitution

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered an Order for Final Judgment by Default against Defendant John R. Bullar, a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a Consent Order against his company, Defendant Executive Management Advisors L.L.C. (EMA), imposing restitution on Bullar and EMA of over $6.2 million. In addition, the Orders require Bullar and EMA to pay civil monetary penalties totaling more than $24.8 million for their fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, and operation of a Ponzi scheme, while illegally acting as Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs) without registering as such with the CFTC.  The Orders also impose permanent trading and registration bans on the Defendants and prohibit them from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.

The Orders arise out of a CFTC Complaint filed on September 23, 2014, which charged Bullar and EMA with embezzlement, fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation of customer funds, fraud by a CPO and CTA, commodity futures and options fraud, and failure to register as a CPO and CTA (see Complaint and Press Release 7006-14, September 23, 2014).

Embezzlement and Misappropriation

The Orders find that Bullar, from at least January 2008, and EMA, from at least March 2009 through September 2013, fraudulently solicited and accepted at least $8.3 million from at least 40 investors (EMA Pool Participants), who were told their funds would be pooled and traded in commodity futures and option contracts.  In fact, according to the Orders, most of the funds received from the EMA Pool Participants were not traded at all, and over $6.2 million of the EMA Pool Participants’ funds were embezzled or misappropriated by the Defendants and used by Bullar to pay his personal expenses, to pay money to him or to accounts he controlled, and to purchase property, vehicles, landscaping and other home improvements.  Additionally, some EMA Pool Participants’ funds were used by Defendants to pay for other EMA Pool Participants’ withdrawals of principal or fictitious profits, in the manner typical of a Ponzi scheme, the Orders find.

The Orders further find that to conceal their embezzlement and fraud the Defendants issued false account statements that showed fictitious profits and account balances and other false information.  Throughout the periods of their misconduct, Bullar and EMA failed to register with the CFTC as a CPO or CTA, as required, the Orders find.

Related Criminal Action

In a related criminal action brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Bullar pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering and was sentenced on June 22, 2015 to 100 months (8 years and 4 months) in prison and ordered to pay criminal restitution totaling over $6 million.

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.

The CFTC thanks and acknowledges the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (Cincinnati Field Office), the Ohio Department of Commerce (Division of Securities-Enforcement), and the Office of the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Xavier Romeu-Matta, Christopher Giglio, Douglas K. Yatter, Steven Ringer, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

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CFTC’s Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory

The CFTC has issued several customer protection Fraud Advisories that provide the warning signs of fraud, including the Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory, which warns customers about a type of fraud that involves individuals and firms, often unregistered, offering investments in commodity pools.

Customers can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the CFTC Division of Enforcement via a Toll-Free Hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382) or file a tip or complaint online.

Friday, October 2, 2015

CFTC ANNOUNCES DEUTSCHE BANK AG ORDERED TO PAY $2.5 MILLION PENALTY IN CASE INVOLVING SWAPS REPORTING VIOLATIONS AND SUPERVISION FAILURES

FROM:  U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 
September 30, 2015
CFTC Orders Deutsche Bank AG to Pay a $2.5 Million Civil Monetary Penalty for Swaps Reporting Violations and Related Supervision Failures
CFTC Finds that Deutsche Bank Did Not Diligently Address and Correct Errors until after Bank Was Notified of CFTC Investigation

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Deutsche Bank AG, a global banking and financial services company and provisionally registered Swap Dealer, for failing to properly report its swaps transactions from in or about January 2013 until July 2015 (the Relevant Period). The CFTC Order also finds that Deutsche Bank did not diligently address and correct the reporting errors until the Bank was notified of the CFTC’s investigation, and failed to have an adequate swaps supervisory system governing its swaps reporting requirements.

This is the CFTC's first action enforcing the new Dodd-Frank requirements that provide for the real-time public reporting of swap transactions and the reporting of swap data to swap data repositories.

The Order requires Deutsche Bank to pay a $2.5 million civil monetary penalty and comply with undertakings to improve its internal controls to ensure the accuracy and integrity of its swaps reporting.

CFTC Director of Enforcement Aitan Goelman commented: “This is another in a series of cases the CFTC has brought this year highlighting the importance of complete and accurate reporting – here involving reporting of swap transactions. When reporting parties fail to meet their reporting obligations, the CFTC cannot carry out its vital mission of protecting market participants and promoting market integrity.”

As a provisionally registered Swap Dealer, Deutsche Bank is required to comply with certain disclosure, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements related to its swap transactions. Specifically, Parts 43 and 45 of the CFTC’s Regulations specify requirements for real-time public reporting, public availability of swap transaction and pricing data, and reporting of creation and continuation data. These Regulations also include requirements for a reporting counterparty to report and correct errors and omissions in its swaps reporting, including cancellations, to the registered Swap Data Repository (SDR) to which the reporting counterparty originally reported the swap.

The reporting requirements are designed to enhance transparency, promote standardization, and reduce systemic risk in swaps trading. Accurate swap data is essential to effective fulfillment of the regulatory functions of the CFTC, including meaningful surveillance and enforcement programs. Moreover, real-time public dissemination of swap transaction and pricing data supports the fairness and efficiency of markets and increases transparency, which in turn improves price discovery and decreases risk.

According to the CFTC Order, during the Relevant Period, Deutsche Bank failed to properly report cancellations of swap transactions in all asset classes, which in the aggregate included between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of reporting violations and errors and omissions in its swap reporting. Deutsche Bank was aware of problems relating to its cancellation messages since its reporting obligations began on December 31, 2012, but failed to provide timely notice to its SDR and did not diligently investigate, address and remediate the problems until it was notified of the Division of Enforcement’s investigation in June 2014. Because of Deutsche Bank’s reporting failures, misinformation was disseminated to the market through the real time public tape and to the CFTC.

The Order further finds that Deutsche Bank’s reporting failures resulted in part due to deficiencies with its swaps supervisory system. Deutsche Bank did not have an adequate system to supervise all activities related to compliance with the swaps reporting requirements until at least sometime between April and July of 2014 – well after its reporting obligations went into effect, according to the Order.

The Order recognizes Deutsche Bank’s significant cooperation with the CFTC during the investigation of this matter.

The CFTC’s Data and Reporting Branch in the Division of Market Oversight (DMO) is responsible for the supervision of swaps data collection and reporting obligations of registered entities. This matter originated from referrals by DMO, and the Data and Reporting Branch provided substantial assistance to the Division of Enforcement during the investigation.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this matter are Allison Passman, Joseph Patrick, Robert Howell, Scott Williamson, and Rosemary Hollinger, with assistance from DMO staff Lawrence Grannan, Athanasia Papadopoulos, Kristin Liegel, Benjamin DeMaria, and Daniel Bucsa.