Forex broker has extorted 150 customers over 300 thousand $

The companies Black Diamon Forex, BGD Trading and Advanta FX, together with their founder Michal Salerno, were charged by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for fraud of 150 customers for the amount of over 300 thousand. $. The companies were supposed to induce clients to obtain and then invest their funds in the Forex market.

Lack of permits and licenses

The whole group of defendants did not have the required licenses to conduct this type of activity, which was active at least from January 2017 to March 2018. What happened to the money? Preliminary findings indicate that the funds collected have never been invested in the currency market or any other capital market and were intended to cover Salerno's private expenses.

Michael Salerno gained his clients through websites such as LinkedIn and Indeed.com, and his own websites, violating the provisions of the Act on Commodity Exchanges. According to the available information, the defendants required future investors to make a contribution "Risk deposit", and/ or "Risk capital deposit" in different heights. Typically, these amounts were in the range of $ 1200 to $ 1900. The defendants promised to equalize these deposits with the company's funds on their own trading accounts, and then share a portion of the profits with investors and pay out the profit in the form of a bonus. 150 people were victims of the fraud, and the total amount of extortion reaches 310 $.

Extract from the CFTC statement:

"Salerno and his companies falsely claimed that they achieved regular income in the Forex market, had a foreign bank account with a deposit of $ 9,5 million and that they sold $ 2015 million in 10. These funds were to be used to set up own trading companies, under which customers would receive their own bills and share their profits in the proportions of 70 / 30. However, Salerno has allegedly not successfully operated on the foreign exchange market for at least five years. "

The CFTC will seek to return money to the defrauded, deprive the defendants of the benefits obtained from criminal activities, impose financial penalties, and impose registration and trade bans. At this stage, it is difficult to estimate the chances of investors recovering the funds (and to what extent).

Stay alert

Do not be fooled and be vigilant. According to Polish law, in order to be able to invest third party funds, you must have an investment adviser license. Issuing recommendations and signals without appropriate permits is also not allowed. Do not succumb to promises of easy risk-free profits under the cover of capital markets. Always check the experience and legal status of the person offering you any investments.