Dallas, Texas – On March 20, 2014, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed charges against Steven Lyn Scott, also known as Stevon Lyn Scott, alleging a fraudulent commodity pool scheme. Scott, a resident of Dallas, Texas, is accused of solicitation fraud, misappropriation of customer funds, and registration violations.
According to the CFTC complaint, Scott fraudulently obtained at least $1,146,000 from a minimum of 43 investors between January 5, 2009, and March 30, 2011. He allegedly convinced these individuals to invest in pooled investment vehicles intended for off-exchange foreign currency (forex) trading with high leverage.
Scott directly solicited investments through word of mouth and email, targeting friends, family, and members of the public in Texas. He operated under the entity Stewardship Financial Exchange, Inc., promising monthly returns of 2% to 5% to those who signed six-month contracts. These returns were purportedly generated through leveraged forex trading.
However, the CFTC alleges Scott never actually traded the investors’ funds as promised. Instead, he immediately misappropriated 50% of the funds by depositing them into his personal and corporate bank accounts for personal use. He then continued to misappropriate the remaining funds by trading them in his own personal trading accounts.
The complaint further states Scott failed to disclose critical information to investors, including the fact that he wasn’t trading their funds, was misappropriating their money, wasn’t generating the promised returns, and was operating as an unregistered Commodity Pool Operator – a violation of federal law.
The CFTC is seeking civil monetary penalties, restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against Scott to prevent further violations of commodity laws. The agency acknowledged the assistance of the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas in this ongoing litigation.
Jason Mahoney, Michael Amakor, George Malas, Timothy J. Mulreany, and Paul Hayeck of the CFTC Division of Enforcement are leading the case.
Source: CFTC.gov
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