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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has revoked the registrations of Black Diamond Futures, LLC and its principal Allan Finger Jr. due to criminal action, the regulator reported in a statement issued yesterday. Black Diamond Futures was registered as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
The action comes as Finger has plead guilty to one count of wire fraud in the criminal action, United States v. Finger, Crim. Case No. 11-mj-424 (W.D. Wash.). Finger was the sole principal of Black Diamond Futures and as such, both registrations were revoked when he admitted to criminal activity.
According to admissions Finger made in trial, Finger started his own broker-dealer firm - Black Diamond Securities, LLC in February of last year. It was through the broker-dealer that Finger enticed existing investors to transfer their accounts to his new company, and then inflated the values of their accounts in statements he made to them.
Finger attracted investors by promising them a conservative investment strategy but actually used investor funds to churn the securities of accounts. The CFTC cites one example in which Finger burned through one investor account taking it from $1m to less than $225,000 within two months. Investors were unaware of this activity as he was emailing them false account statements.
The action from the CFTC follows ...................... To view our full article Click here
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