ORLANDO, FL – Luis M. Pineda Palacios and The Alista Group, LLC have been slapped with a default judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida for running a precious metals fraud scheme, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced Monday.
The court found that Alista and Pineda failed to respond to the CFTC’s complaint, which alleged illegal, off-exchange precious metals sales to retail customers. From July 2016 through at least January 2018, Alista allegedly defrauded customers nationwide by misappropriating funds intended for precious metals purchases. These funds were used for Alista’s own speculative trading, business expenses, and to make Ponzi-style payments to existing customers.
Pineda is accused of individually defrauding customers by diverting funds deposited into a bank account under his control for personal expenses, rather than for the leveraged precious metals transactions they believed they were making. The scheme involved leveraged transactions that never resulted in the full delivery of the purchased metal.
The court ordered Alista to pay $560,540.95 in restitution and a $1,681,622.85 civil penalty. Pineda was ordered to pay $77,500 in restitution and a $370,484 civil penalty. Both Alista and Pineda were permanently banned from engaging in activities that violate the Commodity Exchange Act, registering with the CFTC, and trading on CFTC-regulated markets.
The CFTC cautions that restitution orders don’t guarantee full recovery of lost funds, as wrongdoers may lack sufficient assets. The agency stated it will continue pursuing the remaining defendants in the case: Marvin W. Courson III and Christopher A. Kertatos.
The investigation received assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. The CFTC’s Division of Enforcement, led by Alan Edelman, Michelle Bougas, Erica Bodin, Alison B. Wilson, and Rick Glaser, handled the case.
Source: CFTC.gov
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