WASHINGTON, D.C. – Melody Nganthuy Phan, of California, is facing civil charges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for operating a fraudulent foreign currency (forex) scheme. The CFTC filed the enforcement action on February 27, 2014, alleging that Phan and her companies – My Forex Planet, Inc. (MFP), Wal Capital, S.A., and Top Global Capital, Inc. – fraudulently solicited at least $3,764,214 from over 174 customers between January 2009 and February 2011.
According to the complaint, Phan used MFP to host forex training classes, using them to solicit clients to open accounts with Wal Capital and participate in pooled forex trading through TGC. During these classes, Phan allegedly made false claims, including that she was a highly successful forex trader with millions in earnings, that her trading system guaranteed profits, and that customer deposits would be used as intended.
The CFTC alleges that these representations were false, and that Phan personally lost over $1.4 million trading forex in accounts she controlled. Furthermore, the complaint details the misappropriation of customer funds, which were allegedly used to pay other customer withdrawals and cover business expenses like radio advertising and marketing.
The CFTC is seeking restitution, civil monetary penalties, a trading and registration ban, and a permanent injunction against Phan to prevent further violations of federal commodities laws. The agency also acknowledged the assistance of the UK Financial Conduct Authority in the case.
Customers who believe they may have been affected by this fraud are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the CFTC via its toll-free hotline at 866-FON-CFTC or file a complaint online.
Source: CFTC.gov
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