The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a civil enforcement action against Cash FX Group S.A. and three individuals over an alleged $950 million foreign-exchange investment scheme that involved cryptocurrency. The complaint was filed September 25 in federal court in Florida.
The CFTC alleges that the operation collected funds from more than 400,000 customer accounts globally, causing at least $406 million in losses. More than 6,000 U.S. accounts contributed at least $27 million to the scheme, according to the regulator.
The defendants named in the complaint include founder Huascar Jose Lopez Castillo, TCP President Ronald Pope, and promoter Justin Halladay. The CFTC claims Cash FX told participants that 70% of their contributions would go toward foreign-exchange trading, while the remaining 30% would fund an "Academy Program" offering trading education.
However, judicial filings indicate that the platform executed minimal foreign exchange trading and systemically diverted user capital to pay purported returns to earlier members and enrich its promoters. The CFTC characterized the operation as a multi-level Ponzi scheme that promised algorithm- and AI-assisted Forex trading with fictitious returns of up to 15% weekly.
The regulator is seeking full restitution of funds, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, substantial civil monetary penalties, and permanent trading and registration bans against Cash FX Group and the individuals involved. The action highlights intensifying enforcement against fraudulent schemes leveraging tech narratives to solicit funds.
