CFTC settles $85 million forex fraud against Peter Son and orders PassThrough Investments, Stephen Brantley and Dwayne Bryant Dawson to pay over $1.1 Million in Sanctions

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a federal court supplemental consent order requiring defendants Peter Son (Son) of Danville, Calif., and his companies, SNC Asset Management, Inc., and SNC Investments, Inc., to pay a $5 million civil monetary penalty. The court also ordered Son’s wife, relief defendant Ann Lee (Lee), to disgorge $300,000 of ill-gotten gains. The court’s supplemental consent order, entered on April 19, 2012, by Judge Maxine M. Chesney of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, resolves a CFTC complaint that charged the defendants with operating an $85 million fraudulent foreign currency (Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term) scam (see CFTC Press Release 5666-09, June 9, 2009). The CFTC complaint named Lee as a relief defendant because she received monthly funds as purported wages, although she performed no services for SNC. Read more here.

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an order settling charges that PassThrough Investments, LLC (PTI) (aka PassThrough Investments Group, LLC), and its principals, Stephen Brantley and Dwayne Bryant Dawson, all of Spring, Texas, fraudulently solicited and accepted at least $2.6 million from at least 60 members of the public to participate in an off-Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term foreign currency (forex) pool that traded on a leveraged or margined basis.

The CFTC order requires PTI, Brantley, and Dawson to each pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty and to pay, jointly and severally, restitution of $701,617. The order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against the three respondents and requires them to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged. Read more here.