James G. Ossie, of Dawsonville, Georgia, has been penalized $25.7 million for operating a $25 million foreign currency Ponzi scheme, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on December 7, 2010. The civil monetary penalties and restitution order was entered by U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Story of the Northern District of Georgia.
The CFTC initially brought an enforcement action against Ossie and his company, CRE Capital Corporation, on January 15, 2009, alleging the Ponzi scheme defrauded over 100 customers. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a parallel action on the same day.
Under the terms of the court order, CRE Capital Corporation is required to pay $5.7 million in restitution to the victims of the scheme, in addition to a $15.2 million civil penalty. Ossie himself must pay a $4.8 million civil penalty. Both CRE and Ossie are permanently banned from trading and registering with the CFTC.
This ruling comes after Ossie pled guilty to related criminal charges in 2009. He was sentenced to 82 months in prison on July 30, 2009, and ordered to pay over $18.7 million in criminal restitution. The CFTC investigation was conducted with assistance from the SEC’s Atlanta office.
Daniel C. Jordan, Rick Glaser, and Richard Wagner of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement were responsible for the investigation and prosecution of this case.
Source: CFTC.gov
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