According to an announcement by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulator has obtained a court order of default judgment and permanent injunction against Financial Robotics, Inc. (FinRob) owned by Mark E. Rice.
The court’s Order requires FinRob to pay restitution of $827,000 and a civil monetary penalty of $2,481,000. The Order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against FinRob and prohibits it from violating provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.
In January this year, the court upheld a complaint which required defendant Mark E. Rice to pay $827,000 in restitution and $673,000 in civil penalties in order to settle CFTC charges related to his Forex fraud scheme centered around his company.
Dating back to July 2011, the first order froze the assets of Mark Rice and his company.
From June 2008, Rice operated a fraudulent scheme that solicited approximately $1.7 million from one individual to trade leveraged off-exchange forex contracts, and described how Rice falsely told his customer, among other things, that his investment was “risk free” and insured against loss, and that the return of his principal was guaranteed.
Mr. Rice misappropriated at least $576,000 of his customer’s funds by transferring the money to unrelated Rice-controlled companies and, thereafter, spending at least $404,000 of those funds for Rice’s personal and business expenses.
The CFTC cautions victims in its announcement that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable.
The CFTC thanks the National Futures Association, the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority for their assistance.
