The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has issued a consent order against Marcus Todd Brisco from Hawaii. This order imposes permanent injunctive relief, civil monetary penalties, restitution, and equitable relief due to his involvement in a fraudulent commodity pool scheme.
Brisco is required to pay $350,000 as a civil monetary penalty and $1.65 million in restitution to those affected by his fraudulent activities. The court has also imposed permanent bans on trading and registration for Brisco, along with an injunction preventing further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.
This order results from a complaint filed by the CFTC against eight defendants in January 2023. Previous judgments or consent orders had been entered against the other defendants involved.
The court found that Brisco operated two fraudulent commodity pools. From October 2020 to May 2022, he managed his first pool through Yas Castellum LLC (Yas 1), soliciting over $470,700 from at least 43 participants under false pretenses. Instead of using these funds for trading as promised, they were directed to bank accounts controlled by another defendant, Tin Tran.
In March 2022, after concerns were raised by the National Futures Association (NFA) about his oversight of investor funds, Brisco repaid Yas 1's participants and claimed he was exiting the financial services industry. However, he subsequently launched a second pool via Yas Castellum Financial LLC (Yas 2), which was not registered with the CFTC as required. He collected over $1.9 million from at least 66 participants but misappropriated these funds instead of returning them.
The CFTC expressed gratitude to the NFA for its assistance in this case. The Division of Enforcement staff responsible includes Alison B. Wilson, Kelly Folks, Sean Hennessy, Sarah Wastler, Maura Viehmeyer, Erica Bodin and Rick Glaser.
The CFTC advises caution regarding investments in unregistered entities offering commodity pools and encourages verification through NFA BASIC before investing any funds.
Suspicious activities or possible violations should be reported to the Division of Enforcement via their hotline or online platforms. Whistleblowers can receive between 10% and 30% of monetary sanctions collected from violators through the CFTC Customer Protection Fund.
