BROOKHAVEN, GA – March 31, 2016 – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action against Hendrik A. Van Beuningen, of Brookhaven, Georgia, and his company, DeBrink Trading Fund I, LLC, alleging fraud, misappropriation, and the issuance of false statements related to a commodity pool operation. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
According to the CFTC’s complaint, filed under seal on March 28, 2016, Van Beuningen and DeBrink fraudulently solicited at least $505,000 from at least five individuals between January 2014 and January 2016, with the promise of pooled funds being used to trade futures contracts. The CFTC also alleges violations of registration requirements concerning the commodity pool.
On March 29, 2016, Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. issued a Statutory Restraining Order, freezing the defendants’ assets, prohibiting the destruction of records, and granting the CFTC immediate access to those records.
The complaint details that approximately 45 percent of the $505,000 raised from investors was actually transferred to a trading account. By September 30, 2015, nearly all of the pooled funds had been lost due to unsuccessful trading. Furthermore, the CFTC alleges that Van Beuningen misappropriated funds, specifically the $140,000 received from investors between November 2015 and January 2016, which was never deposited into the trading account.
Despite the trading losses, Van Beuningen allegedly falsely claimed a 19.14 percent return for 2014 and a 31.77 percent cumulative return through September 2015 on DeBrink’s website. He is also accused of providing fabricated account statements to investors that misrepresented the pool’s profitability and the value of their investments. These statements reportedly included inflated management fees, exceeding what was agreed upon with investors.
The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and injunctions to prevent further violations of federal commodities laws. The agency acknowledged the assistance of the National Futures Association, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, and the Brookhaven Police Department in this matter.
Source: CFTC.gov
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