CFTC Secures Court Order Against Florida Resident to Pay Over $1.3 Million in Restitution, Penalties for Commodity Pool Fraud

WASHINGTON - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered a consent order against Emir Jesus Matos Camargo for futures fraud, fraud as an associated person of a commodity pool operator, and related regulatory violations. The consent order also imposes liability against Matos as a controlling person of defaulted defendant Aureus Revenue Group LLC in connection with Aureus's related violations.

The consent order finds that Matos made numerous misrepresentations to pool participants and misappropriated pool participant funds. As detailed in the order, Matos' egregious misrepresentations included sending "prospective pool participants a fictitious license purporting to show that the CFTC licensed Aureus as an investment fund. This fictitious license contained a counterfeit CFTC seal, a forged signature of a former CFTC Commissioner, and a fictitious license number."

The court ordered Matos to pay $666,038.67 in restitution, jointly and severally with any final restitution judgment against defaulted defendant Aureus.

The court also ordered civil monetary penalties of $666,038.67 against Matos, jointly and severally with any civil monetary penalty final judgment against Aureus. The court permanently enjoined Matos from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged, and imposed permanent trading and registration bans.

The consent order resolves all claims against Matos in the CFTC's enforcement action filed September 4, 2024. The enforcement action against Aureus remains pending.

The CFTC cautions that restitution orders may not result in victims recovering any money lost because defendants may not have sufficient funds or assets.