The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a default judgment against defendants Michael B. DePetrillo, Meteor LLC, and NOLA FX Capital Management LLC for their participation in a fraudulent retail forex scheme.
In entering the default judgment, the court found the defendants fraudulently solicited and misappropriated more than $3 million from participants.
The court found the defendants falsely represented that participant funds would be used to trade retail forex, made material misrepresentations and omissions regarding the profitability of forex trading with them, and issued false account statements to conceal their misconduct.
The court further found the defendants misappropriated participant funds by making payments to existing participants in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme, paying DePetrillo’s personal expenses, and trading in DePetrillo’s personal account.
The court ordered the defendants to pay a $9,211,492 civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently enjoins the defendants from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission regulations, as charged, and imposes permanent trading and registration bans.
The default judgment resolves all claims in the CFTC’s 2024 complaint. [See CFTC Press Release No. 9003-24]
On Feb. 18, 2025, in a related criminal case, DePetrillo pleaded guilty to violating the Commodity Exchange Act in connection with the same conduct in the CFTC’s complaint. On July 23, 2025, the court sentenced him to nine years in prison and ordered him to pay $6,748,412 in restitution.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the FBI New Orleans Division.
