Miami resident Damian Castilla and his companies, DCAST Capital Investments LLC and Five Traders LLC, are facing charges of commodity pool fraud following a civil enforcement action filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The CFTC alleges that Castilla defrauded at least 50 investors out of approximately $3.4 million between January 2014 and the present.
According to the complaint, Castilla and his companies falsely claimed to generate significant profits through commodity futures trading on behalf of pool participants. However, the CFTC asserts that the defendants’ trading was largely unsuccessful and that the majority of investor funds were misappropriated for personal use. These expenses included car payments, home renovations, lawn care, clothing, dining, and other personal expenditures.
The CFTC further alleges that the defendants perpetuated the fraud by distributing false account statements showing fictitious profitable trades in nonexistent accounts. They also allegedly used funds from new investors to pay purported profits to earlier investors, creating a Ponzi-like scheme.
The CFTC is seeking restitution for the defrauded investors, as well as monetary penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, a ban on future trading and registration activities, and a permanent injunction preventing further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
The CFTC cautions that restitution orders do not guarantee full recovery of losses, as defendants may lack sufficient assets. The agency encourages the public to verify a company’s registration with the CFTC before investing and provides resources like NFA BASIC for checking registration status. Individuals with information about potential violations can report them via a toll-free hotline (866-FON-CFTC), online tip/complaint submission, or through the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office, which offers potential rewards of 10-30% of collected sanctions.
The case is being handled by Nicholas Sloey, Elsie Robinson, Thomas Simek, Christopher Reed, and Charles Marvine of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement.
Source: CFTC.gov
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