CFTC Sues Cash FX Group for Alleged $950M Ponzi Scheme

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Cash FX Group S.A. and its CEO, Huascar Jose Lopez Castillo, alleging they ran a multilevel-marketing Ponzi scheme that took in over $950 million for purported retail foreign exchange trading in a commodity pool.

The CFTC claims Cash FX told participants their money would be traded by expert traders, proprietary algorithms, and artificial intelligence, promising returns of up to 15% a week. However, the agency says the firm conducted minimal forex trading and misappropriated nearly all participant funds, using new contributions to pay fictitious profits to earlier participants.

The complaint also names The Conversion Pros, Inc. and its CEO Ronald Pope, and Florida promoter Justin Halladay. It alleges Lopez controlled the wallets that received participant bitcoin and routed funds to personal accounts, including one held at a major cryptocurrency exchange in the name of his wife or girlfriend.