Robert S. Leben and Amy L. Leben of Columbia, South Carolina, are facing charges of commodity fraud following a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement action. On March 14, 2014, Judge Terry L. Wooten of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina issued an emergency order freezing the assets under their control.
The CFTC filed a complaint under seal on March 12, 2014, alleging that the Lebens fraudulently solicited at least $3.2 million from participants in a commodity pool called Structured Finance Group Corporation (SFG) between August 2008 and the present. The complaint further accuses them of misappropriating pool participant funds and failing to register as Commodity Pool Operators with the CFTC. Amy Leben is also charged with improper operation of the pool.
According to the CFTC, the Lebens allegedly misappropriated at least $1.77 million for personal expenses, including the purchase of a residence and a swimming pool. Robert Leben is accused of falsely guaranteeing principal investments against loss and promising annual returns of 14 percent, supported by written false statements to investors. The CFTC alleges the operation functioned as a Ponzi scheme, using funds from new participants to pay approximately $1 million in purported profits to existing investors.
The CFTC is seeking a permanent injunction against future violations of federal commodities laws, permanent registration and trading bans, full restitution to defrauded participants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and civil monetary penalties. The agency acknowledged the cooperation of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina in the investigation.
This case was led by CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members Amanda Harding, Elizabeth Davis, Michael Loconte, Erica Bodin, Richard Foelber, and Rick Glaser.
Source: CFTC.gov
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