Chelsea Gless, of Iowa, has been accused of defrauding retail clients in connection with precious metals transactions, according to a complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on September 17, 2018.
Gless, a member, manager, and part owner of Royal Metals Group, LLC (RMG), is alleged to have fraudulently obtained over $600,000 from clients. The CFTC alleges that Gless and/or agents representing RMG promised clients delivery of precious metals in exchange for funds, but failed to fully deliver on those promises, only providing a small amount of coins.
The complaint further details that Gless and RMG allegedly obtained precious metals – including gold and silver – from clients with the promise of full payment, but instead retained the metals without compensating the clients. The CFTC claims that the funds and metals obtained were then misappropriated for personal use, including airline fees, purchases at Walmart, and transfers to accounts controlled by Gless and other third parties.
To conceal the scheme, Gless and RMG allegedly provided clients with false information regarding delivery tracking numbers and issued unsigned or invalid checks, including those with stop payment orders or insufficient funds.
The CFTC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, restitution, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act. The investigation was led by Janine Gargiulo, Alben Weinstein, Judith Slowly, Steven Ringer, Lenel Hickson, and Manal Sultan of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement.
The CFTC advises customers to be wary of precious metals fraud and encourages reporting of suspicious activity via its toll-free hotline at 866-FON-CFTC or through its online filing system.
Source: CFTC.gov
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