The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has busted a massive forex and Bitcoin trading racket and brought civil enforcement charges against eight individuals who were running the scheme. They operated a platform called Prime FX and misappropriated over $1.2 million in clients’ funds. The mastermind of the fraudulent scheme is a Nigerian named Uduakobong Udo Inyangudo a/k/a Alexander Uti Bassey, while the other perpetrators are US citizens living in different states, according to official documents.
The accused ran the fraudulent scheme for four years.
The regulator alleged that the accused ran the fraudulent trading scheme from around June 2016 till February 2019. They operated a website, Primefx.org, and made false and misleading representations regarding trading activities. Uti was the administrator of the website and was responsible for managing the domain. The scheme solicited and misappropriated funds from the local US as well as international investors. The complaint further blamed Uti for the solicitation of funds.
Operators misappropriated the Prime FX customers’ funds.
Uti managed an email account directing the existing and new customers of the scheme to deposit funds into the personal bank accounts of the other defendants, along with other Prime FX agents, who ultimately misappropriated the Prime FX customers’ funds. “The defendants engaged in conduct that facilitated the misappropriation of virtually all of the Prime FX customers’ funds,” the CFTC stated. Forex and crypto-related frauds have been rampant in the United States, which lures vulnerable investors promising high returns in a short time. The US CFTC is also actively busting such schemes and charged several individuals and groups for defrauding investors of millions of dollars. Financial watchdogs across countries have expressed concerns over the increase in crypto scams.
