Black Diamond Forex Scammers Fined $76 Million

The American Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that a U.S. District Court ruled against Keith Simmons and his company Black Diamond Capital Solutions, and against Deanna Salazar and her companies, Life Plus Group, LLC and Black Diamond Holdings, LLC, over a 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. The court imposed a total of $76 million in penalties on the couple as well as permanent trading and financial registration bans.

The case was initiated by a CFTC complaint from 2011, charging Simmons, Salazar, and their companies with fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation of customer funds in connection with a Ponzi-style scheme involving forex trading.

Simmons was sentenced to 40 years and ordered to pay $35 million

The court found that from at least April 2007 through at least 2009, Simmons and Salazar, accepted at least $35 million from at least 240 individuals to engage in forex trading through a Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term known as Black Diamond. In fact, according to the court, no forex trading was ever conducted through Black Diamond, and the platform never existed.

In reality, the fraudsters just used millions of dollars of new client funds to pay out "profits" to existing clients, as is typical of a Ponzi scheme. They also used client funds for personal and unrelated business expenses, according to the court. To conceal their fraud, Simmons, with the assistance of Salazar, issued false customer account statements reflecting the promised returns or more based on Black Diamond’s supposedly "successful" forex trading.

In a related criminal case, Simmons was convicted on December 16, 2010, on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Simmons was sentenced to 40 years’ incarceration and ordered to pay criminal restitution of $35 million. On December 7, 2010, Salazar pleaded guilty to charges of investment fraud conspiracy and tax evasion. Salazar was sentenced to 4.5 years’ incarceration and ordered to pay $5 million in criminal restitution. Both Simmons and Salazar are still serving their sentences.

Also charged in the original CFTC complaint are Bryan Coats of Clayton, North Carolina and his company, Genesis Wealth Management, LLC, and Jonathan Davey of Newark, Ohio and his companies, Divine Circulation Services, LLC, Divine Stewardship, LLC, Safe Harbor Ventures, Inc., Safe Harbor Wealth Investments, Inc., and Safe Harbor Wealth, Inc. The CFTC’s litigation against these Defendants is ongoing.