Orlando, FL – On July 14, 2010, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Pedro de Sousa, along with Guillermo Rosario, in connection with a $535,000 forex fraud. The charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on July 13, 2010.
De Sousa, also known as Pedroiz J. Sanz, and Rosario, also known as Guillermo Rosario-Colon, are accused of fraudulently soliciting funds from at least four individuals in April 2005 to trade foreign currency contracts through their company, FX Professional International Solutions, Inc. (FXP). The CFTC alleges that the pair falsely claimed FXP had consistently profitable forex trading results – annual profits ranging from 21 to 85 percent – dating back to 2002. However, investigators found FXP did not even exist before 2004.
The complaint further details that de Sousa and Rosario distributed fabricated monthly account statements to customers from 2005 through 2008, falsely indicating monthly profits. In reality, their forex trading activities resulted in losses for 31 out of 40 months during that period.
The CFTC is pursuing restitution, disgorgement of illegally obtained gains, and civil monetary penalties as part of its ongoing litigation. Simultaneously, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested both de Sousa and Rosario on related criminal charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborated on the investigation.
The CFTC acknowledged the assistance provided by both the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in bringing these charges.
Source: CFTC.gov
