Federal Court Charges Michael Salerno in Forex Trading Scheme

A Pennsylvania Man was ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution to resolve a charge brought by the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission for fraudulent misrepresentations and misuse of funds.

The enforcement action is the latest development in the case against Michael Salerno, which has been running since April 17, 2018. The defendants in the fraud case were identified as Michael Salerno and his companies Black Diamond Forex LP, BDF Trading LP, and Advanta FX.

Specifically, from at least January 2017 to March 2018, Salerno and his companies fraudulently solicited members of the public to become foreign currency (forex) traders and pay risk deposits by fabricating his successful forex trading career and assuring prospective traders that he had amassed no less than $9.5 million in real estate sales that he was using to fund his proprietary trading companies.

Additionally, Salerno falsely promised to share a portion of the trading profits with the traders and to pay performance bonuses.

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