The legal action brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against GNTFX operator Casper Mikkelsen continues at the New York Southern District Court. Mikkelsen is charged with engaging in an FX fraud scheme and registration violations.
The regulator has pushed for a default judgment against the Forex fraudster and is now seeking to defend the proposed civil monetary penalty (CMP) of $3,573,860.
According to documents filed by the CFTC on February 7, 2022, there is no basis in the record of Mikkelsen’s net worth to support the consideration of Mikkelsen’s ability to pay and, instead, the record has ample aggravating factors warranting a fine reflecting triple the monetary gain to Casper Mikkelsen.
The CFTC explains that the aggravating circumstances of this matter include:
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perpetrating a fraudulent scheme for a minimum of at least two years;
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fraudulently soliciting 106 victims to perpetrate this scheme;
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stealing funds from 106 victims totaling $1,191,286.87;
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creating a website with false information and creating false account statements to conceal the fraud;
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Mikkelsen changing his name to Casper Muller after the collapse of his scheme;
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not responding to client inquiries, making no attempt to return their funds, and showing no remorse or taking accountability for his actions;
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violating core provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act; and
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failing to respond to the complaint and summons despite having full knowledge of this lawsuit.
The CFTC says that these factors warrant the Court imposing the maximum fine.
Based on the uncontroverted facts, relevant case law, and procedural posture and record of this case, the Court should order a CMP of triple the monetary gain to Defendant in the amount of $3,573,860.61, the CFTC concludes.
The CFTC complaint alleges that from at least 2015 to the present, Mikkelsen engaged in a fraudulent scheme that solicited funds from at least 101 individuals and entities to invest with a supposed company called GNTFX to trade retail leveraged or margined Forex. Mikkelsen misappropriated at least some clients’ funds.
As alleged, most clients deposited their funds into bank accounts in the U.S., while others deposited their funds into an overseas account and/or with an American e-commerce company for the purpose of trading forex. Client funds were withdrawn from the U.S. bank accounts by Mikkelsen through his debit card, as well as transferred from the U.S. bank accounts to an overseas bank, and from there to a Bitcoin address for Mikkelsen’s benefit. Mikkelsen then used the money to pay certain clients purported forex trading profits as is typical in a Ponzi scheme.
The complaint also alleges that Mikkelsen was required to register as a commodity trading advisor but failed to do so.