CFTC Fines Florida Man and His Entities $3.4M for Commodity Futures Fraud

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Damian Castilla and his companies, DCAST Capital Investments LLC and Five Traders LLC, all of Miami, Florida, alleging that from January 2014 through the present, Castilla and his companies defrauded at least 50 pool participants of approximately $3.4 million through commodity pools that purported to trade commodity futures. 

The CFTC seeks restitution, monetary penalties, disgorgement, registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, as charged.

Case Background

According to the complaint, the defendants made various material misrepresentations to solicit pool participants, including that they earned significant profits trading futures for pool participants. The defendants’ limited futures trading was not profitable, and instead of trading as promised, the defendants misappropriated the vast majority of pool participant funds. They used pool participant funds for car payments, home remodeling, lawn services, clothing, dining, and other personal expenses. The complaint also states that they continued their fraud by issuing false account statements that showed profitable trading in nonexistent trading accounts and by using a portion of the funds obtained from pool participants to pay fake profits to earlier pool participants.   

The CFTC cautions victims that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost, because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure the wrongdoers are held accountable.