A civil enforcement action has been filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Hasan Sarwara, also known as Alexander Sarwar, and his spouse, Rachida Elfrimi. The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges a Ponzi scheme defrauding investors through their entity, Profit Management Int, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
The CFTC complaint details that from October 2012 through July 2014, Sarwara and Elfrimi fraudulently solicited at least $1,191,000 from over 40 investors for commodity futures trading. They allegedly promised substantial monthly returns and falsely claimed a history of successful trading, enticing potential investors with claims of doubling their money in less than five months.
According to the complaint, the defendants used websites promoting Profit Management, boasting “over 15 years of successful online futures trading experience” and consistent daily returns of 5-7%. However, the investigation revealed Sarwara’s personal trading account, where investor funds were deposited, consistently incurred monthly losses averaging around $19,000 – information never disclosed to pool participants. Instead of legitimate trading profits, the scheme relied on payments from new investors to satisfy earlier ones, a hallmark of Ponzi schemes.
The CFTC alleges that Sarwara and Elfrimi further violated regulations by commingling investor funds with their personal finances. Pool participant funds were not segregated into dedicated accounts but rather deposited into individual bank accounts controlled by the couple. Additionally, they failed to register with the CFTC as Commodity Pool Operators, as legally required.
The CFTC is seeking restitution for defrauded individuals, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction to prevent further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The case is being pursued by David W. Oakland, Michael R. Berlowitz, Christopher Giglio, David Acevedo, Lenel Hickson Jr., and Manal M. Sultan of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement.
The CFTC reminds investors to be wary of unregistered investment advisors and to review fraud advisories available on their website, particularly those concerning commodity pool fraud.
Source: CFTC.gov
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