CFTC secures entry of default against director of W Trade Group
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has secured an entry of default against Larry Ramos Mendoza, managing director of W Trade Group.
The reason for the Court’s decision is that the defendant has failed to answer or otherwise defend against the CFTC’s Complaint. As FNG has reported, the CFTC suspects that Larry Ramos Mendoza has fled the U.S.
Let’s note that the clerk’s entry of default is a formal step which typically precedes the issue of default judgment. Such judgment would specify the penalties and restitution (if any) in this case.
On February 7, 2022, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action alleging that, from at least June 2013 through June 2020, WTG, by and through the actions of its employees and agents, including but not limited to, Ramos, and Carvajales, fraudulently solicited customers by phone, the internet, and U.S. mail, to open individual trading accounts in order to trade in, among other things, commodity futures, retail foreign currency on a leveraged or margined basis and/or options on commodity futures contracts.
After fraudulently soliciting customer funds, the Commission alleges that WTG and Ramos misappropriated more than $19 million from at least 220 customers to pay for personal and business expenses and diverted funds deposited by new customers to make Ponzi scheme-like payments to earlier customers who requested account withdrawals.
Moreover, WTG, by and through the actions of Ramos, fabricated account statements in an effort to prevent WTG customers from learning that they had misappropriated customer funds.