The U.S. derivatives market regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced  that the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order and a final judgment against Danish resident Casper Mikkelsen, a/k/a Carsten Nielsen, a/k/a Brian Thomson, a/k/a Thomas Jensen, a/k/a Casper Muller, permanently prohibiting him from trading commodity interests, and ordering him to pay $1,191,286 in restitution and a $3,573,860 penalty, which is triple the profits Mikkelsen made committing this fraud.

“The CFTC will continue to partner with foreign regulators and other agencies to aggressively pursue individuals who use our markets to misappropriate funds from unsuspecting victims no matter where these individuals may reside,” said CFTC Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle.

The order and final judgment resolve a CFTC enforcement case filed on May 18, 2020.

The order found that Casper Mikkelsen falsely promised clients he would use his discretion to trade forex on their behalf. In turn, his clients invested at least $1,536,782.47 with GNTFX. Rather than using those funds for forex trading as promised, Casper Mikkelsen misappropriated the funds. The order found that Mikkelsen used the clients’ funds for his own benefit and to pay certain clients purported forex trading profits as is typical in a Ponzi scheme. The order also found that Mikkelsen was required to register as a commodity trading advisor but was not registered.

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