Release: #4074-97 (Civ. 97-CV-3141)

For Release: November 5, 1997

PENNSYLVANIA COURT ISSUES PERMANENT INJUNCTION AGAINST

ROBERT H. RUTMAN IN CFTC ANTI-FRAUD ENFORCEMENT ACTION,

EFFECTIVELY BARRING HIM FROM THE FUTURES INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that the Honorable Harvey Bartle, III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered a consent order of permanent injunction against Robert H. Rutman of Ambler, Pennsylvania, a defendant in a CFTC anti-fraud complaint filed on May 1, 1997 (CFTC News Release #4019-97, May 8, 1997).

The court's order of permanent injunction issued on October 30, 1997, finds that Rutman violated the anti-fraud, registration, and recordkeeping provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) as charged and also prohibits further such violations of federal commodity law. The order also permanently prohibits Rutman from seeking or applying for registration with the CFTC in any capacity (or acting in any capacity that would require registration) and from trading on any futures exchange, either for himself or on behalf of others, effectively barring him from the futures industry.

The CFTC charged Rutman with fraudulently soliciting at least one customer, acting in an unregistered capacity, commingling customer funds with his own, and failing to provide required risk disclosure statements, transaction confirmations, and account statements, among other violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations. The court previously entered a consent preliminary injunction against Rutman on June 25, 1997.