FICTITIOUS TRADING RESULTS IN REAL PENALTY OF $600,000

FROM:  U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION 
December 19, 2013

Federal Court in New York Orders Defendant David M. Nunn to Pay a $600,000 Civil Monetary Penalty for Engaging in an Illegal Coffee Futures Trading Scheme and Making False Statements to ICE Futures U.S. Court Permanently Bans Nunn from Trading or Registration with the CFTC

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent Order against David M. Nunn for entering into fictitious sales, engaging in illegal noncompetitive and fictitious trades in coffee futures contracts over a two-year period, and making false statements to representatives of ICE Futures U.S., Inc. (ICE). Nunn is a Vermont resident and a former ICE floor broker.

The consent Order of permanent injunction, entered on December 18, 2013, requires Nunn to pay a $600,000 civil monetary penalty and, among other sanctions, permanently bans Nunn from trading on a registered entity, soliciting or receiving funds for trading on a registered entity, applying for registration or claiming exemption from registration with the CFTC, or acting as a principal or agent of any CFTC registrant or person exempted from registration.

The Order stems from a CFTC Complaint filed on October 18, 2012 (see CFTC Press Release 6393-12). The Complaint alleged that, from at least July 2008 through September 2010, Nunn engaged in over 1,300 non-competitive, fictitious coffee futures trades on ICE. The Complaint further alleged that, through this illegal scheme, Nunn transferred over $1.68 million to another account that he controlled.

The Order states that Nunn engaged in a series of unlawful, non-competitive commodity futures transactions involving coffee futures on ICE. The Order also states that Nunn intentionally made non-competitive, fictitious sales by placing virtually simultaneous orders to buy or sell in accounts either held in his name or held under another person’s name that he controlled. Nunn made false statements to ICE officials during an interview when he denied that monies were transferred to him from the account held under the other person’s name, according to the Order.

In a related ICE proceeding, Nunn was expelled from ICE membership and is prohibited from directly or indirectly accessing the exchange’s markets. The CFTC appreciates the assistance of ICE in this matter.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Trevor Kokal, Michael Geiser, David Oakland, David Acevedo, Lenel Hickson, and Manal Sultan.