The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil complaint against Trevor L. Vernon and his firm, Argent Capital Management LLC, for allegedly operating a fraudulent commodity pool that raised more than $14 million from at least 60 participants. The scheme, which ran from March 2022 to February 2026, involved trading equity index futures, options on those futures, and crypto assets, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
The CFTC alleges that Vernon presented himself as a successful trader and falsely claimed the pool was highly profitable, consistently beating major stock indexes. In reality, his trading resulted in consistent and catastrophic losses, totaling at least $8.6 million. To conceal the losses, the defendants sent monthly performance emails and quarterly updates showing rising account balances based on non-existent gains. The regulator described the operation as Ponzi-like, stating that funds from new participants were used to make payments to existing investors, masking the true condition of the pool.
Additionally, the complaint accuses Vernon of making false statements during sworn testimony in the CFTC’s investigation and violating registration requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act. The agency is seeking restitution for defrauded investors, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, and permanent trading and registration bans against both defendants.
