Inter-Global Currency & Precious Metals Ordered to Pay $550,000

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has ordered Delray Beach Florida resident Stavros Papastavrou and his Pompano Beach, Florida company, Inter-Global Currency & Precious Metals, LLC (IGCPM), to pay nearly $550,000 for allegedly committing illegal off-exchange precious metals fraud. The Consent Order states that IGCPM and Mr. Papastavrou solicited customers by phone to engage in leveraged, margined, or financed precious metals transactions. According to the Order, customers paid at least $1 million to IGCPM for these precious metals transactions, and IGCPM received at least $447,342 in commissions and fees.

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North Hills Management Fined $26 Million for Commodity Pool Fraud

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered New York resident Mark Bloom, along with his firm North Hills Management, LLC to pay a $26 million civil monetary penalty for operating a fraudulent commodity pool called North Hills LP and for misappropriating customer funds. The CFTC Order states that Mr. Bloom and North Hills Management misappropriated approximately $13 million from North Hills LP between 2002 and 2009. During this time, Mr. Bloom lived a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a $5 million Manhattan apartment. The Consent Order found that Mr. Bloom and North Hills Management made several misrepresentations and omissions to pool participants. On July 30, 2009 Mr. Bloom plead guilty to charges of misappropriation and concealment in a parallel criminal proceeding. Mr. Bloom is still awaiting sentencing in his criminal case and will be required to pay restitution in an amount to be decided by the court.

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Paramount Metals Exchange and Others Ordered to Pay CFTC $2.5 Million for Precious Metals Fraud

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Boca Raton, Florida resident Isaiah Goldman and Delray Beach, Florida resident Brock Catronio, along with their companies Paramount Metals Exchange, LLC and Paramount Credit, LLC (collectively Paramount), to pay more than $2.5 million in sanctions for illegal off-exchange precious metals fraud. The CFTC Order states that Isaiah Goldman (Goldman), Brock Catronio (Catronio) and Paramount solicited investors to make cash purchases of precious metals, falsely representing how the physical metals would be held on the investors’ behalf. According to the Order, Goldman, Catronio and Paramount treated the metals transactions as financed purchases, with the investor only paying a portion of the purchase price, and then taking out a loan for the balance of the purchase price.

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Gold Coast Bullion and Anthony Lauria Ordered to Pay CFTC Nearly $10 Million for Precious Metals Fraud

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Florida resident Anthony Lauria and his Fort Lauderdale, Florida based company, Gold Coast Bullion, Inc., to pay nearly $10 million for committing illegal off-exchange precious metals fraud. The CFTC Order states that Gold Coast Bullion used telemarketers to solicit customers to invest in financed precious metals transactions. According to the CFTC Order, Anthony Lauria and the Gold Coast Bullion telemarketers represented to investors that in order to purchase the precious metals, they needed to deposit about 25% of the total metal value, that Gold Coast Bullion would arrange for the investor to receive a loan for the remaining 75%, and the investor would pay a finance charge on the loan.

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