CFTC Files Fraud Charges Against Fake Commodity Trading Platform

According to Odaily, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has recently announced fraud and misappropriation charges against a fake commodity trading platform targeting Asian Americans. The CFTC has taken legal action against Aipu Ltd., Qian Bai, Lan Bai, Fidefx Investments Ltd., and Chao Li, filing a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The defendants are accused of fraudulently soliciting and misappropriating at least $3.6 million from at least 32 customers as part of an investment scam. The CFTC stated that the scheme involved soliciting funds from customers, including both fiat currency and digital assets, for trading commodity futures and forex contracts. The defendants falsely claimed that these assets would be traded through leveraged or margin accounts. However, no trading occurred, and the funds were transferred to overseas entities. The regulatory body is seeking various forms of relief, including compensation for defrauded customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, trading bans, and permanent injunctions against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.