The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a complaint against Arizona resident Helmut H. Weber, doing business as Weber Capital Management, charging Weber with operating a fraudulent off-exchange foreign currency scheme.
The CFTC complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Arizona, Phoenix Division on 9 March 2010, alleges that Weber, through personal solicitations and his websites fraudulently solicited customers to invest at least USD280,000 in forex trading.
The complaint also alleges that, contrary to Weber’s representations, only a fraction of customer funds were actually traded and that the majority of the funds were misappropriated to pay for Weber’s lavish lifestyle.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that from at least June 2008 through January 2009, Weber falsely told customers that he was a successful and experienced forex trader, promised profits of three per cent to ten per cent monthly on investments and claimed that WCM was registered with the National Futures Association and the CFTC. Based on these false representations, many of his clients recommended Weber to their friends and family.
Additionally, Weber continued to solicit prospective and existing clients even after the Arizona Corporation Commission, Securities Division, served a “cease and desist” order upon him on 12 September 2008, according to the complaint. The order required him to stop certain forex business activities and to close two of his websites.
The state of Arizona subsequently on 22 October 2008, indicted him on 29 criminal violations, including fraud and theft, related to his forex solicitation activities. The criminal charges against Weber remain pending.
In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks restitution of funds to defrauded customers, the repayment of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties and permanent trading and registration bans.
