Alexander Giap of Falls Church, Virginia, has been ordered to pay $456,743 in restitution and a $250,000 civil penalty after being found guilty of commodity fraud, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on December 19, 2012. The ruling, entered by the Honorable Claude M. Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on December 17, 2012, also permanently bans Giap from trading and registering with the CFTC.
The CFTC’s investigation revealed Giap ran two separate fraudulent schemes beginning in 2009. In the first, he solicited customers to join iTRADE, a program falsely presented as a “school” for commodity trading. “Students” paid tuition ranging from $4,000 to $20,000 to trade under Giap’s direction, with a guarantee of recovering their initial investment through profits. However, Giap’s trading consistently lost money, incurring losses in seven out of nine months between January and September 2009.
Giap misled potential clients by failing to disclose crucial information. He concealed his prior criminal conviction, outstanding restitution payments, and existing IRS tax liens. He also misrepresented his trading experience, claiming no prior involvement in commodity futures trading before January 2009, and failed to mention he was not registered with the CFTC as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
The second scheme, launched in October 2009, mirrored the first, defrauding three additional customers through the same deceptive practices and resulting in further financial losses. The CFTC collaborated with the Virginia Corporation Commission during the investigation.
Allison Baker Shealy, Jason Mahoney, Timothy J. Mulreany, George Malas, Rainey Perez, John Einstman, Paul G. Hayeck, and Joan Manley of the CFTC Division of Enforcement led the case.
Source: CFTC.gov
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