CFTC Wins $9.21 Million Judgment Against Louisiana Man and His Two Firms in Forex Fraud Case
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on October 21 that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a default judgment against Michael B. DePetrillo, Meteor LLC and NOLA FX Capital Management LLC for their participation in a fraudulent retail forex scheme, ordering a $9,211,492 civil monetary penalty.
The court found the defendants fraudulently solicited and misappropriated more than $3 million from participants, falsely representing that participant funds would be used to trade retail forex, making material misrepresentations and omissions about the profitability of trading with them, and issuing false account statements to conceal their misconduct. The court further found the defendants paid existing participants in a manner akin to a Ponzi scheme, paid DePetrillo's personal expenses, and traded in his personal account.
The order also permanently enjoins the defendants from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, and imposes permanent trading and registration bans. The judgment resolves the CFTC's 2024 complaint.
In a related criminal case, DePetrillo pleaded guilty on February 18, 2025 to violating the Commodity Exchange Act in connection with the same conduct, and on July 23, 2025 was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $6,748,412 in restitution. The CFTC thanked the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and the FBI's New Orleans Division for their assistance.
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国商品期货交易委员会（CFTC）华盛顿总部入口。Dclemens1971摄，CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Entrance to CFTC headquarters in Washington, D.C. Photo by Dclemens1971, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
