L.A. Commodities Trading Firm Shut Down For Improper Commodity Pool Operations

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it obtained an emergency federal court order freezing the assets of a Los Angeles based commodities trading firm. The defendants are charged with solicitation fraud and misappropriation of customer funds in connection with the operation of a commodity pool. The allegations claim they fraudulently solicited over a million dollars from roughly 100 commodity pool participants to invest in commodity futures, foreign currency Read more

White Collar Convictions in Newport Beach Receiving Harshest Sentences

White-collar crime is generally recognized as a crime committed by a person in the course of his occupation. White-collar crime tends to overlap with corporate crime because the opportunity for fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crime, and forgery is more available to white-collar employees. White-collar worker refers to a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor.

Recently, one of four co-defendants in a scheme that defrauded investors of more than $50 million was sentenced to 25 years in prison! According to U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt, this sentence represents Read more

Orange County Commodities Trader Faces Civil and Criminal Charges

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a federal court order in Orange County California, freezing the assets and prohibiting the destruction of documents of an Orange-County commodity trader and his company.

The asset freeze order stems from a CFTC complaint charging both with misappropriating customer funds and concealing trading losses in connection with operating a fraudulent commodity pool.

The complaint alleges that the defendants solicited at least Read more

Embezzlement on the Rise in Orange County

The former president of a manufacturing company has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for embezzling nearly $825,000. In addition to her federal prison sentence, the former executive was forced to sell her house and give up her company pension and personal retirement savings to satisfy her fine and help repay her debt.

California Penal Code 503(a) defines embezzlement as Read more

Drug Traffickers Face Money Laundering Charges

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged 35 people with smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States and returning to Mexico with the cash from the sale of the smuggled drugs. The defendant’s are believed to be in operation with Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel which allegedly Read more