The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a notice of intent to revoke the registrations of Illinois resident Joseph A Dawson (Dawson) and his company, Strategic Research LLC (SR), a registered Commodity Pool Operator (CPO). Dawson is the president and sole principal of SR and has been a registered Associated Person of SR since 13 February, 2009.

According to the CFTC’s notice, Dawson is subject to disqualification from registration under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) based on his felony conviction for wire fraud, a federal court’s finding that he committed fraud and misappropriation, and a federal court’s entry of a permanent injunction order against him. SR is subject to disqualification from registration under the CEA because Dawson is its principal, according to the notice.

Specifically, the notice states that on March 8, 2011, Dawson pled guilty to three felony counts of wire fraud in violation of 18 USC § 1343 in United States v. Dawson, a criminal action filed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois on 17 December, 2009, 09-CR-1037 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 17, 2009). The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois sentenced Dawson to 54 months of imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution to his victims.

The notice also states that on 26 April, 2011, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a consent order of permanent injunction against Dawson in a CFTC anti-fraud action filed on July 20, 2010, against Dawson and his unregistered CPO, Dawson Trading LLC, 10-CV-4510 (N.D. Ill. July 20, 2010). In that consent order, Dawson admitted that he misappropriated approximately $2.1 million of commodity pool participant funds, fraudulently solicited pool participants, and made material false statements to pool participants in violation of the CEA. The consent order permanently prohibits Dawson from violating the CEA’s anti-fraud provisions.