U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Michael Brian DePetrillo, a 43-year-old from New Orleans, has been charged with violating the Commodity Exchange Act under Title 7, United States Code, Section 13(a). The charge was filed on January 27, 2025.

According to the bill of information, DePetrillo was not properly registered as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) or an Associated Person (AP) of a CPO with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Through several companies including Meteor, LLC; NOLA FX Capital Management, LLC; ELC Enterprise Solutions, LLC; and Argosapolis, LLC, he acted as a CPO and AP of a CPO and embezzled client funds in violation of federal law. While acting as an AP of unregistered CPOs, DePetrillo told investors that their funds would be pooled and invested in the NOLA FX FUND for trading foreign currency pairs on a leveraged basis.

DePetrillo assured investors that pooling their funds would be advantageous. He also represented to certain investors that either Meteor or NOLA FX Capital managed the NOLA FX FUND. In some instances, however, he identified "NOLA FX Capital" instead of the NOLA FX FUND as the pooled investment vehicle. Instead of investing as promised in foreign currency exchange and other markets like gold futures options and cryptocurrency, DePetrillo misappropriated pool funds for personal expenses such as rent and private air travel.

To hide his actions, DePetrillo issued fictitious account statements purporting significant trading returns from forex trades using participant funds. However, these claims were false; he never deposited pool participant funds into trading accounts belonging to NOLA FX FUND or NOLA FX CAPITAL nor achieved the claimed returns. Over seven years, approximately $9.2 million was taken from about 60 victim investors.

If convicted, DePetrillo faces up to ten years imprisonment along with potential fines and supervised release terms.

U.S. Attorney Evans emphasized that a bill of information is merely a charge requiring proof beyond reasonable doubt for conviction.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating this case and seeking information to identify potential victims through http://fbi.gov/depetrillovictims.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn McHugh and Brian M. Klebba are handling prosecution duties for this case within the Financial Crimes Unit.