Dallas, TX – February 7, 2007 – Gerald Leo Rogers has been implicated in a massive foreign currency (forex) fraud scheme resulting in over $123 million in sanctions, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today. The judgment, entered by the Honorable Jane Boyle of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, targets Rogers, along with his companies Premium Income Corp. (PIC), Inforex, Ltd., and Tri-Forex International, Ltd.
The CFTC, working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice, filed suit against PIC and its principals – Rogers and Alexander Ignor Shevchenko – on March 2, 2005. The complaint alleged fraud in the sale of illegal forex covered call options and the misappropriation of customer funds.
The court’s order mandates PIC and its affiliates to jointly pay $12,374,104 in restitution to defrauded customers. Additionally, each company faces a civil penalty of $37,122,312. The order permanently bans each entity from engaging in any commodity trading activity.
From January 2004 until the complaint was filed, PIC and its affiliates allegedly lured customers with promises of guaranteed annual returns between 10% and 14.2% on their investments in forex transactions, falsely claiming no risk of principal loss. They falsely advertised a “fixed income strategy” available exclusively in the U.S. under a special license agreement with a Swiss bank. In reality, customer funds were immediately transferred to accounts controlled by Rogers under the name of Inforex. These funds were then used for speculative forex trading, personal expenses, and undisclosed commissions to customer recruiters.
Gregory Mocek, the CFTC’s Director of Enforcement, stated that the case is part of a larger effort to combat forex fraud, resulting in actions against over 350 defendants who defrauded more than 25,000 retail customers.
The CFTC continues to pursue litigation against Rogers and Shevchenko, seeking permanent injunctions, full restitution to customers, repayment of illegally obtained gains, and further civil monetary penalties. Rogers was arrested when the initial action was filed and is currently incarcerated at La Tuna Federal Penitentiary in Texas.
This action was coordinated with a parallel emergency enforcement action filed by the SEC in Civil Action No. 3-05-CV-0415-M (U.S.D.C./N.D. Texas, Dallas Division). The CFTC acknowledged the cooperation of the SEC and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Source: CFTC.gov
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