CFTC charges Golden Signals for binary options scam
Golden Signals claimed Richard D. Neal had “been consistently winning with one of the highest profit percentage ratings in the world”
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Richard D. Neal and his company Golden Signals LLC for engaging in fraudulent solicitations for binary options signals, trainings, and strategy course offerings.
Neal allegedly acted as a commodity trading advisor (CTA) and commodity pool operator (CPO), while not registered to act as such, and advertised without making disclosures required by CFTC regulations.
According to the CFTC, 10 pool participants lost approximately $410,000 in a managed account trading pool, while approximately 1,600 customers were cheated out of at least $896,673 through the fraudulent offerings.
The order requires Neal and Golden Signals LLC to pay $409,965 in restitution, $896,673 in disgorgement, a $1,306,638 civil monetary penalty, and to cease and desist from any further violations.
The CFTC also banned Neal and Golden Signals LLC from trading on, or trading subject to, the rules of any CFTC-registered entity.
Highest profit rates in the world?
The alleged fraud took place between October 2016 and November 2021. Neal and Golden Signals LLC engaged in binary options solicitation and trading fraud via two webpages and social media, said the CFTC.
Golden Signals claimed Neal had “been consistently winning with one of the highest profit percentage ratings in the world” and that customers could “go to the Products page and pick up one of his strategies that earn him on average $500-$1,000 a day”, adding that “as long as traders follow the Golden Signals their money will grow.”
The CFTC said the advertised claims were false as Neal had an overall losing trading record and was not a successful trader.
DPL sued for $15m binary options and crypto scam
In November 2021, the CFTC obtained a permanent injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Daniel Fingerhut alongside Itay Barak, Tal Valariola and their company Digital Platinum Limited (DPL).
On regulatory grounds, these names were sued for operating binary options and cryptocurrency scam that defrauded investors to the tune of $15 million. They were working with a few brokers and marketed extravagant lifestyles, which they claim to have earned via online trading.
The case involves two massive solicitation schemes that had been running from October 2013 to August 2018, one involving binary options and the other digital assets, the CFTC said.
The binary options defendants were named as Tal Valariola and Itay Barak, both from Tel Aviv, and were charged with operating an Israel-based marketing company, Digital Platinum Limited (DPL). The agency says their business allegedly “aided and abetted” an offshore company called All in Publishing (AIP), which was accused of marketing fraudulent binary options to American and foreign investors on behalf of their associated brokers, who paid AIP and DPL commissions.
