The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating an unincorporated entity called Novum Commerce and Technology (Novum) and is trying to obtain information from Novum’s CEO in connection with the probe.

This becomes evident from documents filed with the California Central District Court on January 25, 2022, and seen by FX News Group.

The CFTC explains that this is an action to compel compliance with administrative subpoenas. The regulator issued administrative subpoenas in an ongoing investigation related to Novum to California residents Melbe Zepeda and Gustavo Rodriguez.

Melbe Zepeda is a resident of Bellflower, California. Zepeda held himself out as the CEO of Novum according to documents in the Commission’s possession.

Gustavo Rodriguez is a resident of North Hollywood, California. Rodriguez has been described as a “programmer” responsible for building and maintaining a customer-facing user interface that purported to show Novum customers their account balances and investment returns.

The subpoena issued to Zepeda requires production of specific categories of documents related to Novum.

The subpoenas issued to Rodriguez require production of specific categories of documents related to Novum; and that Rodriguez appear before officers of the Commission to provide sworn investigative testimony.

According to evidence in the Commission’s possession, Novum solicited retail customers to open and fund accounts based on promises of guaranteed trading returns involving bitcoin. As digital assets have grown in prominence, so too have fraud schemes involving digital assets. For example, in 2020, the Commission filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas that involved a bitcoin solicitation fraud scheme that is substantially similar to the conduct giving rise to the Order.

The CFTC requests that the Court enter an Order to Show Cause requiring Zepeda and Rodriguez to appear before the Court on a date to be fixed to show cause, if any, why they should not be compelled to comply with the subpoenas.