CHICAGO, IL – December 4, 2015 – David Bryant, of Los Angeles County, California, is facing fraud charges following a civil enforcement action filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on December 2, 2015. Bryant is accused of operating as an unregistered Commodity Pool Operator and defrauding investors.
The CFTC alleges that between June 2014 and the present, Bryant fraudulently solicited at least $3 million from investors, falsely claiming the funds would be traded through the Bryant Family Investment Fund LLC. He allegedly provided investors with fabricated account statements indicating substantial profits and a multi-million dollar account balance.
However, the CFTC’s complaint reveals that no such investment fund account existed. Instead, Bryant reportedly lost over $2.6 million trading in his personal accounts during the same period. The scheme involved misrepresenting the performance and existence of investor funds.
U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang has issued an emergency restraining order, freezing Bryant’s assets and preventing the destruction of documents or obstruction of access to his financial records. This order aims to preserve funds for potential restitution to defrauded investors.
The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and permanent injunctions against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act. The amount of penalties and restitution will be determined by the court.
The case is being pursued by Stephanie Reinhart, Joseph Patrick, David Terrell, Scott Williamson, and Rosemary Hollinger of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement. The media contact for this case is Dennis Holden at 202-418-5088.
Source: CFTC.gov
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