Old Brookville, NY – Harris Bruce Landgarten has been ordered to pay $91,000 in restitution and penalties after being found to have defrauded investors in a commodity pool, according to a consent order filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) brought the enforcement action.
The CFTC found that between July 2014 and March 2017, Landgarten operated the Tradeanedge Members Fund (TMF), collecting a total of $150,000 from three investors. Landgarten allegedly used pool funds to cover personal expenses, but falsely reported the value of investor holdings on statements, failing to disclose the reimbursements he had already received.
Investigators determined Landgarten routinely withdrew more money from the TMF account than the claimed expenses, commingling the funds with his personal accounts. On multiple occasions, these withdrawals exceeded $10,000.
“The CFTC does not tolerate fraud or any attempts to obstruct our mission to ferret out fraudsters and wrongdoers and hold them accountable,” stated Ian McGinley, Director of Enforcement at the CFTC.
This civil action is in parallel to a criminal case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where Landgarten was charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction of an official proceeding. In February 2023, Landgarten pleaded guilty to attempting to obstruct an official proceeding and was sentenced to 10 months in prison, 100 hours of community service, and a period of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $91,000 in restitution as part of the criminal case.
In addition to the restitution and penalty of $91,000, the consent order imposes a permanent ban on Landgarten’s ability to trade commodities and register with the CFTC, along with a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. The CFTC cautions that recovery of funds for victims is not guaranteed.
The CFTC received assistance in the investigation from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the National Futures Association.
Source: CFTC.gov
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