CFTC lawsuit targeting binary options scam Yukom delayed again
There is no positive news for the victims of fraudulent binary options firms such as BinaryBook and BigOption, as the lawsuit brought by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against the entity behind these scams – Yukom Communications, faces further protraction.
Let’s recall that the lawsuit was brought in the Illinois Northern District Court, with the defendants including Yukom, as well as a number of individuals associated with it, such as its former CEO Lee Elbaz, as well as Yossi Herzog.
The case has seen numerous delays. In fact, the latest meaningful development occurred in October 2020, when the CFTC secured Clerk’s entry of default against Yukom Communications Ltd., Yossi Herzog, and Shalom Peretz. In July 2020, the regulator secured default entries as to Linkopia Mauritius Ltd, Wirestech Limited, WSB Investment Ltd, Zolarex Ltd., and Lee Elbaz, the former CEO of Yukom Communications. However, such entries are not default judgments, which typically determine any penalties to be imposed on the defendants.
The Court has been pretty much silent for the past several months. The only announcements issued concern the rescheduling of hearings. Earlier today, the Honorable Andrea R. Wood said the telephonic status hearing set for 3/29/2021 is stricken and reset for 4/20/2021 at 10:15 AM. No more information was provided in this matter.
In its complaint, the CFTC alleges that Yukom Communications and the entities linked to it fraudulently sold and marketed binary options to investors located in the United States and throughout the world through two websites, known as BinaryBook and BigOption. The defendants misled investors using BinaryBook and BigOption by falsely claiming to represent the interests of investors when, in fact, the owners of BinaryBook and BigOption profited when investors lost money.
The fraudulent scheme led investors to purchase more than $100 million in binary options.
Representatives of BinaryBook and BigOption, working under Elbaz’s supervision, misrepresented the terms of so-called “bonuses,” “risk free trades” and “insured trades,” and deceptively used these supposed benefits in a manner that in fact harmed investors.