Chicago, IL – June 24, 2015 – Nick A. Wurland is facing federal charges of fraud, misappropriation, and issuing false statements following a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The CFTC alleges Wurland, along with his company Ludiera Capital LLC, operated a fraudulent investment pool that traded commodity futures and options.
According to the CFTC complaint, the pool was a “shell company” used to defraud investors and enrich Wurland and his associates. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has also filed a related criminal complaint charging Wurland with wire fraud and obtained writs of garnishment against his and Ludiera Capital’s known accounts.
The CFTC alleges that Wurland fraudulently solicited over $9 million from at least 46 investors, promising to trade physical commodities like soybeans and energy products. He falsely claimed that funds would *only* be used for physical commodity trading, that the trading was profitable, that futures and options were not being used, that funds would be segregated, and that investors faced no risk of loss.
However, the complaint states that Wurland never traded physical commodities. Instead, over $6.8 million of investor funds was used to trade futures and options contracts, a risk he failed to disclose. He also concealed significant trading losses by providing fictitious reports and account statements showing fabricated profits.
Wurland is accused of misappropriating at least $600,000 of investor funds for personal expenses, including paying down credit card debt and purchasing vehicles. The scheme operated similarly to a Ponzi scheme, with approximately $1.8 million distributed to some investors using principal from other participants, masking the ongoing losses and misappropriation.
The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and injunctions against further violations of federal commodities laws. The CFTC acknowledged the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case.
Source: CFTC.gov
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