The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint on June 11, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charging Marat Yunusov with engaging in fictitious transactions and trading noncompetitively on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Globex electronic trading platform. Yunusov, who has never been registered with the CFTC, has held himself out to be a Russian national and also uses the name Ayrat Yunusov.
On June 14, 2010, the emergency judge, the Honorable Joan B. Gottschall, issued a restraining order freezing certain of Yunusov’s assets and prohibiting the destruction of documents. Judge Gottschall set the case for a status hearing on June 16, 2010, before the assigned presiding judge, the Honorable Elaine E. Bucklo. A hearing on the CFTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction will be scheduled at a date to be determined.
Specifically, the CFTC complaint alleges that, during the evening of June 3 and the morning hours of June 4, 2010, Yunusov engaged in a series of unlawful commodity futures transactions on the CME’s Globex electronic trading platform, buying and selling thousands of futures contracts, the vast majority of which were in back-month, illiquid markets. Using separate accounts carried at two different registered futures commission merchants, Open E Cry LLC and Velocity Futures, LLC, Yunusov’s trading resulted in more than $7.8 million in losses to his Open E Cry account and an approximate $7.2 million profit to his Velocity account, after commissions and fees. Open E Cry has had to cover the losses from its own proprietary funds, according to the complaint.
The CFTC thanks the CME Group, Inc., the parent of the CME, Open E Cry LLC and Velocity Futures, LLC for their assistance in this matter.
In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks restitution, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans and a permanent injunction against further violations of the federal commodities laws.
The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this matter: William Janulis, Mary Kaminski, Rosemary Hollinger, Scott Williamson and Richard Wagner.