Dunwoody, GA – November 8, 2007 – Paul Atha has been penalized by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for falsely reporting and attempting to manipulate natural gas prices, according to a consent order entered on November 7, 2007, by the Honorable J. Owen Forrester of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Atha, of Dunwoody, Georgia, will pay a $200,000 civil monetary penalty and is permanently prohibited from applying for registration with the CFTC, engaging in any activity requiring such registration, or acting as a principal as defined by the National Futures Association.
The CFTC initially filed a lawsuit on February 1, 2005, alleging that between January 2000 and early 2001, Atha repeatedly submitted false natural gas trading information – including fabricated price, volume, and counterparty details – to firms compiling natural gas price indexes like Inside FERC Gas Market Report, Gas Daily, and Natural Gas Intelligence. The CFTC found that Atha, along with two other traders, intentionally submitted this false information to skew the indexes at various natural gas delivery locations to benefit their trading positions.
This settlement resolves the CFTC’s lawsuit against Atha. His co-defendants had previously settled with the CFTC in November 2006.
In a separate legal matter, Atha pleaded guilty on June 19, 2006, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, to felony charges of conspiracy to manipulate the price of a commodity in interstate commerce, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 317. He was sentenced on November 13, 2006, to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, and a $5,000 fine. The criminal charges stemmed from the same conduct alleged by the CFTC.
The case was led by CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members Kathleen Banar, Anne Termine, Michael Otten, Laura Gardy, Lacey Dingman, Richard Wagner, and Rick Glaser.
Source: CFTC.gov
Related Federal Cases
- Georgia Phillips, Medicaid Fraud Scheme, Texas 2024 · North Carolina
- Anthony Jermaine Robinson, Bank Fraud, Georgia 2024 · Florida
- Georgia Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulent Identity Theft & Bank Fraud Scheme · Florida
- Marc Shultz, DA Threat, Georgia 2023 · Washington
- Georgia Woman Gets 5+ Years for SD Meth Bust · South Dakota
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News