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CFTC charges former CBOE member Alvin Guy Wilkinson with fraud

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The US CFTC has charged former CBOE member Alvin Guy Wilkinson and his limited partnerships Chicago Index Partners (CIP) and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund (WFOF) with fraud and acting as unregistered Commodity Pool Operators.

The CFTC Complaint also charges Wilkinson with providing false statements and documentation to the National Futures Association (NFA) during an NFA investigation. Wilkinson formerly served in a leadership capacity on Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) committees and the CBOE board of directors.

The Complaint, filed on 28 June 28, 2016, alleges that, from July 1999 to the present, Wilkinson fraudulently solicited and accepted at least USD6.9 million from at least 30 individuals for purchase of interests in WFOF and CIP, claiming that he would trade a portfolio of financial instruments on their behalf, including futures contracts, using a market volatility strategy. However, instead of trading participants’ monies as he represented he would, Wilkinson allegedly misappropriated at least USD5.2 million, and he returned at least USD1.7 million to participants of WFOF and CIP as return of capital and purported profits in the manner of a Ponzi scheme. 

According to the Complaint, Wilkinson also directed his accountant to issue false Schedule K-1 Forms that misrepresented the profitability and value of participants’ interests in WFOF and CIP.
As part of his scheme, Wilkinson allegedly lied to participants about the likelihood of profit and risk of loss, and, when participants demanded to withdraw from WFOF and CIP, Wilkinson ignored their demands, engaged in delay tactics, and lied about conditions that purportedly prevented him from making disbursements.  As also alleged, Wilkinson omitted to tell investors that their partnership interests had little or no value, and that he had misappropriated their investments. 
Furtherm
ore, when NFA was investigating Wilkinson in May 2016, he produced to NFA financial information for WFOF and CIP reflecting that nearly all of the funds’ assets were ultimately tied to a “Note Receivable” purportedly worth more than USD12 million, although no such note exists, according to the Complaint.  Accordingly, by this conduct, Wilkinson provided false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements to the NFA, the Complaint alleges.

In its continuing litigation against the Defendants, the CFTC seeks full restitution to defrauded participants, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, a civil monetary penalty, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against violations of federal commodities laws, as charged.

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