The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order and a final judgment against Danish resident Casper Mikkelsen, a/k/a Carsten Nielsen, a/k/a Brian Thomson, a/k/a Thomas Jensen, a/k/a Casper Muller, permanently prohibiting him from trading commodity interests, and ordering him to pay $1,191,286 in restitution and a $3,573,860 penalty, which is triple the profits Mikkelsen made committing this fraud.
“The CFTC will continue to partner with foreign regulators and other agencies to aggressively pursue individuals who use our markets to misappropriate funds from unsuspecting victims no matter where these individuals may reside,” said CFTC Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle.
Case Background
The order and final judgment resolve a CFTC enforcement case filed on May 18, 2020. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8164-20]
The order found that Casper Mikkelsen falsely promised clients he would use his discretion to trade forex on their behalf. In turn, his clients invested at least $1,536,782.47 with GNTFX. Rather than using those funds for forex trading as promised, Casper Mikkelsen misappropriated the funds. The order found that Mikkelsen used the clients’ funds for his own benefit and to pay certain clients purported forex trading profits as is typical in a Ponzi scheme. The order also found that Mikkelsen was required to register as a commodity trading advisor but was not registered.
The CFTC cautions that orders requiring repayment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of any money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, International Financial Services Commission of Belize, British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, Czech National Bank, Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, Central Bank of Ireland, Financial and Capital Market Commission of the Republic of Latvia, Securities Commission Malaysia, Ontario Securities Commission, Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (the Portuguese Securities Market Commission), Monetary Authority of Singapore, and UK Financial Conduct Authority.
The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this matter are Xavier Romeu-Matta, Judith M. Slowly, Christopher Giglio, James G. Wheaton, Steven I. Ringer, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.
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CFTC’s Forex Fraud Advisory
The CFTC has issued several customer protection Fraud Advisories and Articles, including the Foreign Currency Trading (Forex) Fraud Advisory, which provides information about a type of fraud involving the trading of foreign currencies and how customers can detect, avoid, and report these scams.
The CFTC also strongly urges the public to verify a company’s registration with the CFTC before committing funds. If unregistered, a customer should be wary of providing funds to that company. A company’s registration status can be found using NFA BASIC.
Customers and other individuals can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the Division of Enforcement via a toll-free hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382), file a tip or complaint online, or contact the CFTC Whistleblower Office. Whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected paid from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund financed through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA.
