The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed charges against four individuals pertaining to “fraudulently soliciting funds from customers to speculate in Bitcoin price movements.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the CFTC alleges that Texas residents Mayco Alexis Maldonado Garcia, Cesar Castaneda, and Rodrigo Jose Castro Molina, and Florida resident Joel Castaneda Garcia, that their business, named Global Trading Club (GTC), employed “master traders” with experience in the crypto markets and trading robots to trade Bitcoin for customers 24/7.
According to the complaint, the GTC marketing materials represented that customers could join one of multiple GTC membership levels, ranging from $250 (“Entrepreneur” level) to $31,000 (“Founder Trader” level). The CFTC claims that the GTC marketing materials set forth guaranteed specific daily earnings, which would increase based on the customer’s membership level at GTC.
The CFTC states that at least 27 individual customers deposited at least $989,000 with one or more representatives of GTC.
The CFTC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s regulations, as charged.