Release : 4628-02 (CFTC Docket No. # 02-10)
For Release: April 4, 2002

Florida Commodity Trading System Developer and New York Publisher Settle CFTC Fraud Action

CFTC Finds that George Angell, TradeWins Publishing and its President, Stephen Schmidt, Fraudulently Marketed Commodity Trading System

Washington, D.C. – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the acceptance of offers of settlement from George Angell, of Key West, Florida, TradeWins Publishing Corp. (TradeWins), of Smithtown, New York, and its president, Stephen A. Schmidt, of St. James, New York. In an action filed on March 6, 2002, the CFTC issued an order simultaneously instituting and settling an administrative action against Angell, a developer of commodity futures trading systems. In a second action filed on April 4, 2002, the CFTC filed an order simultaneously instituting and settling an administrative action against TradeWins, a publisher and marketer of investment related books and products, and Schmidt, TradeWins’s president. In each order, the CFTC finds that Angell, TradeWins and Schmidt fraudulently marketed Angell’s trading system.

The orders accompanying the settlements find that for approximately a three-year period beginning in January 1996, Angell, TradeWins and Schmidt fraudulently solicited members of the public to purchase a version of the LSS Day Trading System (“the LSS System”), a signal-based computerized commodity futures trading system. According to the orders, the public was solicited through a series of promotional brochures, which falsely represented that the LSS System’s performance record was based on Angell’s actual commodity trading. In fact, the orders find that the performance results were derived from hypothetical back-testing. The promotional brochures further suggested that prospective customers could review Angell’s personal trading account records when, in truth, these records were not available, according to the orders.

The orders further find that the promotional brochures falsely represented that the LSS System’s performance results had been independently audited and verified. In fact, according to the orders, the firm that purportedly verified the results was not independent. Rather, the orders find that the firm had a financial interest in the success of the LSS System because it was compensated on the basis of the profits earned by the sale of the LSS System.

The CFTC orders find that by such conduct, Angell, acting as a commodity trading advisor, defrauded clients and prospective clients, and that Schmidt aided and abetted that fraud, in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. The orders find TradeWins responsible for the fraudulent actions of its officer, Schmidt. Angell, TradeWins, and Schmidt consented to the entry of the orders without admitting or denying the findings therein.

The CFTC orders:

• direct Angell, TradeWins and Schmidt to cease and desist from further violations of the CEA, as set forth above;
• require Angell to pay a $50,000 civil monetary penalty within ten business days of entry of the March 6, 2002, order and to agree not to seek registration for a period of three years;
• require TradeWins and Schmidt to jointly and severally pay a $100,000 civil monetary penalty within ten business days of entry of the April 4, 2002, order; and
• require them to comply with certain undertakings, including undertakings that prohibit them from making misrepresentations regarding profits and risks associated with trading futures or options.

A copy of the CFTC orders may be found at http://www.cftc.gov

The following Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for the case:
Joseph Rosenberg
Christina Kang
David Acevedo

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Case Contact:

Charles J. Sgro
Regional Counsel
Division of Enforcement
Eastern Regional Office
(201) 234-6926