A former New York City resident is facing civil and criminal charges for allegedly defrauding investors through a commodity pool scheme. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action against Mark A. Ramkishun in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on January 9, 2023.
The CFTC complaint alleges Ramkishun fraudulently solicited funds from over 30 investors for “Leo Growl LLC,” a purported commodity pool, beginning in March 2019 and continuing through at least September 2021. He operated as an unregistered commodity pool operator, promising to trade commodity futures and options contracts.
According to the complaint, Ramkishun knowingly made false statements and omitted key facts regarding the use of investor funds and claimed trading profits. Instead of investing the majority of the funds as promised, he reportedly traded less than half, resulting in net losses, and misappropriated a “substantial portion” for personal expenses and to make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors.
The CFTC is seeking full restitution for defrauded participants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, a permanent ban from trading and registration, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
This action follows a parallel criminal case initiated in December 2022. Ramkishun was arrested in Florida and arraigned on a 56-count indictment by the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, based on similar allegations.
The CFTC encourages the public to verify the registration of companies and individuals offering commodity pool investments and to report suspicious activity. Resources, including the Commodity Pool Fraud Advisory, are available on the CFTC’s website. The CFTC’s hotline for reporting potential violations is 866-FON-CFTC.
Source: CFTC.gov
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