Los Angeles, CA – January 16, 2024 – Yueyu Bao, a Chinese citizen, has been charged with engaging in a fictitious sales scheme on the Chicago Board of Trade, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges Bao orchestrated a fraudulent transfer of funds through coordinated trading activity.
According to the CFTC, Bao executed 33 non-competitive, fictitious sales of 410 futures contracts in October and November 2021. The scheme involved close coordination with an associate, identified as “Trader A,” Bao’s cousin, to transfer at least $159,000 from Trader A’s account to Bao’s own.
The complaint details how Bao and Trader A synchronized their bids and offers in real-time, specifically targeting periods of low trading volume on the Chicago Board of Trade’s Globex platform. Investigators claim the orders were intentionally entered without genuine price competition or market risk, solely to facilitate the illicit fund transfer.
The CFTC is seeking restitution, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against Bao to prevent further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and related CFTC regulations. The agency alleges Bao violated the fictitious sales provisions of the CEA through his actions.
The CME Group provided assistance in the investigation, the CFTC noted. Jennifer Blakley, Dmitriy Vilenskiy, Chrystal Gonnella, Derek S. Hammond, James H. Holl III, A Daniel Ullman II, and Paul G. Hayeck of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement are handling the case.
Source: CFTC.gov
Related Federal Cases
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News