Owner of binary options firm Y Trading pleads guilty to fraud
Yehuda Belsky faces up to 40 years in prison, restitution in the full amount of each victim’s losses, forfeiture of $800,000 and a fine of up to $5 million.
Yehuda Belsky, the owner of Brooklyn-based binary options firm Y Trading, LLC, has earlier today pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud, one count of failure to register as a commodities trading advisor and one count of misappropriation of customer funds. The plea was entered before United States District Court Judge Allyne R. Ross at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
When sentenced, the defendant faces up to 40 years in prison, restitution in the full amount of each victim’s losses, forfeiture of $800,000 and a fine of up to $5 million.
In 2008, Belsky was permanently barred by the CFTC from trading in commodity futures transactions and options. Nevertheless, from March 2014 to October 2018, Belsky presented himself to potential investors – using an alias – as an experienced securities and commodities trader. Belsky promised his victims that he would invest their money by trading securities or binary options, a type of investment in which investors are promised an opportunity to be paid predetermined amounts based upon the price of securities, commodities or other investments at particular points in time. Instead of doing as promised, Belsky misappropriated his victims’ investments for his personal use and to reimburse investors who had demanded repayment.
In September 2018, the Indictment in this case was unsealed at the New York Eastern District Court.
This marks yet another criminal lawsuit in the United States targeting fraudulent binary options schemes. In July, the trial of Lee Elbaz, also known as Lena Green, the former CEO of Yukom Communications, the retention services provider for brands like BinaryBook, is set to begin. The Indictment charges Lee Elbaz with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud.
