According to a recent press release, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has brought an enforcement action against a resident of New York City named William Koo Ichioka for defrauding more than 100 participants in a commodity pool of over $21 million.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California has also brought a concurrent criminal complaint against Ichioka on counts including wire fraud and commodities and securities fraud. In a “parallel action,” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also intervened.
According to a statement from CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson, “Ichioka pledged to use clients’ assets to enter into retail foreign currency transactions (FX) through a commodities interest pool operating under the name “Ichioka Ventures”.
Ichioka has pleaded guilty to the allegations, and the CFTC is pursuing full compensation for the people and organizations who were cheated. In addition, the CFTC has asked for permanent injunctions, trading and registration restrictions, and civil monetary penalties against Ichioka.
A commodity pool is an investment vehicle that “pools” money from numerous investors for trading.
The CFTC asserts that from 2018 to 2021, Ichioka operated a fraudulent scheme in which he promised investors a 10% return within 30 business days in exchange for their money used to trade digital asset commodities like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH). Ichioka said that participants may readily withdraw or reinvest their money.
Instead, Ichioka utilized the $21 million to cover personal costs like rent and fancy cars, as well as to reimburse some of the participants.