CFTC Sues a Commodity Pool Operator for Misappropriating Over $21M

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charging William Koo Ichioka, a New York City resident, for fraudulently soliciting and misappropriating over $21 million from more than 100 commodity pool participants' funds.

The investigation found that Ichioka carried out a fraudulent scheme from 2018 to November 2021, soliciting tens of millions of dollars from more than 100 investors to trade digital asset commodities including BTC and ETH. He operated a forex commodity interest pool named Ichioka Ventures to raise funds and promised investors a 10% return in 30 business days.

However, Ichioka ultimately misappropriated over $21 million of participant funds, and used those funds to pay back other participants, and for his lavish personal living expenses.

Ian McGinley, Director of Enforcement at CFTC, said: "The CFTC is committed to aggressively pursuing individuals who defraud public investors in digital assets and retail foreign currency [forex] transactions. The CFTC will strive to hold such wrongdoers fully accountable for their misconduct as we work cooperatively with our law enforcement partners to protect unsuspecting fraud victims."

Ichioka faced criminal charges in a separate parallel lawsuit that included wire fraud, filing false or fraudulent tax returns, and securities and commodities fraud in connection with this scheme.

Last month, the CFTC imposed a $45 million civil penalty on HSBC Bank USA, N.A.​ for manipulation and deceptive trading practices in its swap transaction.