NY Court extends stay of CFTC action against alleged FX fraudster Brett Hartshorn
Brett G. Hartshorn stands accused of having fraudulently solicited at least $906,000 for purposes of Forex trading.
Judge Andrew L. Carter of the New York Southern District Court has granted an extension of the civil action brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against Brett G. Hartshorn. The defendant stands accused of fraudulent solicitation at least $906,000 for purposes of Forex trading.
On Friday, September 20, 2019, the parties in the case submitted a Joint Status Report. The document stated that Counsel for the CFTC had spoken with the Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, who is handling the related criminal matter. Hartshorn has agreed to a guilty plea in principle. The AUSA has advised counsel for the Commission that the plea agreement is currently being finalized. Accordingly, the parties in the civil action requested that the stay is continued.
According to the latest filings with the New York Southern District Court, the stay in the civil case is extended until December 20, 2019. The parties were ordered to provide the Court with a Joint Status Report on or before December 13, 2019, and in any event to submit a status report to the Court before December 13, 2019 if there are developments in the criminal matter.
Let’s recall that the CFTC has found that from at least June 18, 2008 to in or around 2014 Hartshorn fraudulently solicited at least 13 individuals including members of his church and individuals he met in his local community, to invest in off-exchange foreign currency on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis and to give Hartshorn discretionary authority to trade forex on their behalf.
Hartshorn is known for his rather emotional statements. In one of his emails to the Judge assigned to his case, Hartshorn confessed:
“I have no idea what I am doing, I am sure the team at the CTFC are very joyful every time I send a response because it is SO out of order and makes me look like such a fool”.
That email concluded with a rather pessimistic statement about how the defrauded investors and the CFTC have nothing to win from the case against Hartshorn:
“The former friends of mine who may want me in jail for losing some of their net worth will not get that satisfaction. They will not get their money back…I guess the CTFC and the plaintiff’s goal is to win this case and have a judgement against me forever. That is a lose-lose situation…they will never get the money, and in todays computer age, I will never be afforded the opportunity for a normal job…”
