US Federal Court ordered defendant Kelvin O. Ramirez to pay nearly $3 million after he was found guilty of fraudulently soliciting and misappropriating funds from clients in a forex trading scheme, as announced by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in mid-July.

Back in February, the CFTC charged Texas-based forex trader of investment fraud, misappropriation, and issuing false statements made primarily through social media, including Instagram and WhatsApp. As a result, the defendant is now ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty totaling $2.2 million, as well as $735,983.48 to compensate over 400 victims defrauded by him.

The defendant sold some sort of software that was supposed to at least double his clients’ investment for $250 per month, and advanced trading signals and other personalized trading advice for additional $25,000. Thus, his customers were deluded into the false belief that they were trading currencies through accounts managed by Ramirez, or by subscribing to his signals service. However, instead ‎of buying the contracts ordered by his customers, he ‎spent the money on company expenses, investment activities ‎and for his own personal use and benefit. ‎ He used several different names to hide his identity.

In addition to the fine and compensation he has to pay, Ramirez is also permanently banned from engaging in conduct that violates the US Commodity Exchange Act.

The CFTC is amid the strictest financial sector regulators in the world: it requires a lot from US Forex brokers but apparently does its best to clear the field from fraudsters and the action against Ramirez is a piece of evidence for these efforts. However, the regulator cautions victims that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets.