The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a notice that the US District Court, Southern District of Texas, has issued a consent order in regards to the Global Trading Club (GTC) and affiliated individual Mayco Alexis Maldonado Garcia, and a separate consent order against Cesar Castaneda and Joel Castaneda Garcia.
The consent order is said to resolve the CFTC’s case against these defendants, that was filed in the Southern District of Texas on September 14, 2020. Another case against Rodrigo Jose Castro Molina is in the midst of litigation.
The CFTC states that from at least August 2016 through October 2017, the defendants and others allegedly misrepresented to customers that their business, GTC:
“employed “master traders” who had years of experience trading “crypto currency,” and used “cutting edge trading robots” to trade Bitcoin for customers “24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
The CFTC adds that the defendants allegedly falsely represented that customer earnings would increase based on the amount of their deposit and that GTC would award bonuses to customers who referred others to the GTC business. The defendants apparently posted misleading trading statements cover up the scheme.
The CFTC claims that at least 27 individual customers deposited at least $989,000 with one or more representatives of GTC.
The orders impose a permanent injunction and permanently ban the defendants from registering with the CFTC and from trading commodity interests.
The orders also require the defendants to pay $989,550 in restitution, Mayco Alexis Maldonado Garcia to pay a civil monetary penalty of $400,000, and Cesar Castaneda and Joel Castaneda Garcia to each pay a civil monetary penalty of $180,000.
