Michael James Seward, Commodities Fraud, New York 2013

State: New York
Category: Fraud &#038; Financial Crimes
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-and-fbi-assistant-director-charge-announce-commodities-fraud-and" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

In a shocking case of commodities fraud, Michael James Seward, president of the now-defunct SK Madison Commodities, LLC, has been charged with defrauding over 20 individuals out of approximately $1.3 million.

According to the indictment, Seward and his former business partner, Yan Kaziyev, also known as Ian Kaziyev, convinced investors to put their money into the unregistered commodities trading pool, SK Madison. However, instead of investing the funds as promised, Seward and Kaziyev pocketed approximately $700,000 for themselves.

The scheme, which ran from July 2011 through May 2013, involved Seward and Kaziyev making false representations about the success of their pool and the nature of the investments they were soliciting. In some cases, they even lied about the success of the pool, mailing and emailing false ‘track record’ reports to investors.

The National Futures Association and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission confronted Seward and Kaziyev about their large withdrawals from the trading and bank accounts in the spring and summer of 2013. However, instead of cooperating, they sought to justify their actions.

Seward is currently detained in Pinellas County, Florida on unrelated state felony charges. Kaziyev, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to all counts in June 2014 under a cooperation agreement.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, ‘Yan Kaziyev and, as alleged, Michael Seward fraudulently convinced investors to put their money into an unregistered commodities trading pool, and then used that money for their personal gain.’

Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos added, ‘Like we’ve seen time and time again, the defendants cooked up a scheme to defraud unwitting investors. Today the game is up. The defendants find themselves on the wrong side of the law and charged in Manhattan Federal Court.’

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