Honolulu, HI – Marvin Cooper has been ordered to pay over $6.2 million in penalties and restitution after being found liable for operating a $4 million Ponzi scheme targeting deaf individuals, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on September 2, 2010.
Cooper, along with his company Billion Coupons, Inc. (BCI), defrauded more than 125 customers, primarily deaf Americans and Japanese nationals, through a foreign currency (forex) and commodity futures scheme. The scheme, active since at least September 2007, promised investors monthly returns of 15 to 25 percent.
According to the CFTC complaint and subsequent summary judgment issued by Judge J. Michael Seabright of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, Cooper misappropriated over $1.4 million in customer funds for personal expenses. These included the purchase of a $1 million home and flying lessons.
The court’s judgment requires Cooper and BCI to jointly pay approximately $3.9 million in disgorgement, intended as restitution to the victims of the fraud. An additional $2.2 million will be paid as civil monetary penalties to the CFTC, and $130,000 in civil penalties will be paid to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Beyond the financial penalties, Cooper and BCI are permanently barred from engaging in any commodity-related trading or registration with the CFTC. The CFTC acknowledged the assistance provided by the SEC and the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Office of the Commissioner of Securities, in bringing this case to resolution.
The case was led by CFTC staff members Elizabeth Davis, Kenneth W. McCracken, Michael Loconte, Erica Bodin, Rick Glaser and Richard Wagner.
Source: CFTC.gov
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