CFTC Accuses Michigan Commodity Pool Operator and His Company of Sales Solicitation Fraud

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently announced it filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against Andrew M. Middlebrooks and his firm EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I Partners, LLC, a Delaware company, based in the Detroit, Michigan area. 

The complaint alleges Middlebrooks and his company engaged in a scheme that fraudulently solicited individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere to trade commodity interests, among other financial products, through a commodity pool called EIA All Weather Alpha Fund I, LP. The complaint further alleges Middlebrooks and his company solicited, accepted, and pooled millions of dollars from dozens of fund participants.

In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks full restitution to defrauded fund participants, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), as charged.