Valencia, CA – Monica Schiera Main and her husband, Brian Main, were hit with a $1.5 million penalty for perpetrating a commodity trading fraud, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced May 4, 2007. The judgment, entered by Judge Christina A. Snyder of the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 27, 2007, follows a complaint filed by the CFTC on April 12, 2005.
The CFTC alleged that between April 2001 and April 2005, Monica Schiera Main and Brian Main fraudulently solicited over $3 million from more than 1,200 customers for commodity trading advice, services, and software through their companies, Gemancer, Inc., Gemancer II, Inc., and Trade Pro, Inc. (collectively, the “Gemancer Common Enterprise”). Funds were also diverted through several other companies owned and controlled by the couple: Moni, Inc.; Ria Riviera, Inc.; Body Blasters, Inc.; Success Direct, Inc.; and Tri Lynx, Inc.
According to court documents, the Mains presented themselves as successful commodity trading advisors, guaranteeing profitable trading results. Monica Schiera Main falsely claimed to have become a millionaire through her trading system, despite actually incurring losses. Furthermore, the CFTC found that she failed to disclose a prior bankruptcy filing in March 2003 and a previous criminal fraud conviction, as required by the Commodity Exchange Act.
In addition to the penalties against the Mains – $1.29 million for Monica and over $200,000 for Brian – Judge Snyder previously entered judgment against the corporate entities on December 11, 2006. This earlier order mandated $9 million in civil penalties and the disgorgement of $3 million in ill-gotten gains. The corporate relief defendants were also ordered to repay approximately $500,000 traceable to the fraud.
The consent order permanently prohibits Monica Schiera Main, Brian Main, and the associated companies from engaging in any commodity-related activity, including soliciting funds or directing the trading of commodity futures or options accounts for others.
The case was led by CFTC enforcement staff members Jennifer S. Diamond, Joy McCormack, Susan Gradman, Venice Bickham, Scott R. Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner.
Source: CFTC.gov
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