Page 25 - 期货和衍生品行业监管动态（2024年5月）
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期货和衍生品行业监管动态
be used in connection with contracts of sale of a commodity in interstate commerce
(i.e., the customer’s purchase of cattle). As alleged in the CFTC’s complaint, upon
information and belief, from approximately 2021 until December 2023, the
defendants received more than $161 million from over 2,000 customers.
In its continuing litigation against the defendants, the CFTC seeks restitution to
defrauded customers, civil monetary penalties, trading bans, and a permanent
injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and
CFTC regulations.
Case Background
As alleged in the complaint, Agridime operated an online platform that
purportedly allowed customers to buy and sell cattle and pitched victims with the
prospect of guaranteed annual rates of return between at least 15% and 20%. As
advertised, Agridime’s cattle purchase program afforded customers the opportunity to
buy and sell cattle without the actual day-to-day care of the cattle, or as Agridime
stated in solicitation materials, purchasers of livestock would “make money raising
cattle without having to do all the work.”
As further alleged in the Agridime cattle program, customers supposedly bought
cattle, typically for $2,000 a head, and Agridime was to handle the feeding and care of
the cattle, via farmers with whom Agridime partnered, until the cattle were ready to be
processed and the beef sold.
As alleged in the complaint, Agridime represented the customers’ funds would be
used only for the purchase, raising, and feeding of the purchased cattle. Instead,
because Agridime did not buy the number of cattle required to fulfill its obligations
under the livestock contracts, Agridime had to use recent customers’ funds to pay the
guaranteed profits of earlier customers. In addition, as further alleged, upon
information and belief, customers’ funds were also used to pay approximately $11
million in undisclosed commissions to Agridime personnel, including to Link, his
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