WOODINVILLE, WA – Joseph Clark Lavin, also known as Joseph Ivcevic, has been ordered to pay over $23 million in restitution and penalties for defrauding customers in a foreign currency (forex) options scheme, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today. The judgment, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Robert S. Lasnik for the Western District of Washington on September 18, 2008, resolves all charges stemming from a CFTC complaint filed in 2007.
Lavin, operating through his companies Global Asset Partners, LTD, Global Asset Partners, LLC, Global Currency Trading Group, LLC, and Global Currency Trading Fund, LLC, defrauded customers of more than $11.5 million between January 2001 and January 2007. He solicited retail investors from the United States, Canada, France, and Panama, promising monthly profits of 2.5 percent on forex options contracts.
However, Lavin failed to disclose that his companies were misappropriating one percent of customer funds each month as commissions. He further misled investors by issuing false reports that inflated profits while concealing the deducted commissions, effectively creating a fraudulent scheme.
Judge Lasnik ordered Lavin to pay $11,612,538.55 in restitution to the defrauded customers and a matching $11,612,538.55 civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently prohibits Lavin from engaging in any future business activities involving commodity futures and options trading.
In addition to Lavin’s penalties, the court previously ordered relief defendants Prosperitas International Credit Union and Wendy Anderson to disgorge ill-gotten gains totaling over $3.9 million received as a result of the fraudulent scheme. Prosperitas was ordered to disgorge $3,934,005.53, while Anderson must return $5,897.32.
The CFTC acknowledged the cooperation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, and the Seattle offices of the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service in this investigation.
Source: CFTC.gov
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