LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA – October 24, 2014 – Ryan A. Nassbridges, operating under aliases Ryan Bridges and Ryan Nasserabadi, has been slapped with a hefty penalty and permanent trading ban following a CFTC investigation into a fraudulent precious metals scheme. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a final judgment against Nassbridges, along with his companies American Bullion Exchange ABEX Corp. and American Bullion Exchange, LLC, on October 8, 2014.
The court found that Nassbridges and his companies fraudulently solicited approximately $5.5 million from around 80 investors, falsely claiming funds would be used solely for bullion and coin purchases and were insured against loss. Instead, the defendants misappropriated the funds for undisclosed commodity futures and options trading, personal expenses, and transfers to entities controlled by Nassbridges.
Judge David O. Carter’s order imposes a $3,430,000 civil monetary penalty on Nassbridges himself, and a joint penalty of $14,790,000 on ABEX Corp. and ABEX LLC. All defendants are permanently banned from trading and registering with the CFTC. The judgment also requires the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from relief defendants Bita Nassbridges ($821,893), American Preferred Commodities APC Corp ($110,600), and R.E. Lloyd Commodities Group Holding LLC ($1,250,000).
The CFTC initially filed a complaint in December 2010, alleging fraud, misappropriation, and registration violations. The court’s rulings, based on summary and default judgments issued in August and September 2014, further revealed that ABEX Corp. and ABEX LLC failed to register as Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs) and violated numerous operational and disclosure requirements.
Specifically, the companies failed to maintain a separate entity for the commodity pool, accept funds solely in the pool’s name, provide necessary disclosure documents, and issue account statements to investors. Nassbridges also failed to register as an Associated Person (AP) of a CPO.
The case was led by CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members Kevin S. Webb, Michelle S. Bougas, James H. Holl, III, Luke B. Marsh, Paul G. Hayeck, and Gretchen L. Lowe.
Source: CFTC.gov
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