Washington, D.C. – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered a preliminary injunction order against Timothy F. Stubbs on September 22. The court’s decision stems from the CFTC’s January 27, 2022 complaint charging Stubbs, together with four other individuals and five companies, with fraud, misappropriation, and registration violations in connection with a fraudulent foreign currency (forex) scheme. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8486-22]

The order found the CFTC demonstrated a reasonable likelihood Stubbs will continue to violate the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). The order also found volumes of evidence pointing to Stubbs’ involvement in the common enterprise. The court also noted: “As Stubbs is a CPA, it is reasonable to conclude that he either knew about the Fraudulent Enterprise or stuck his head in the sand to manufacture plausible deniability.”

The court’s order prohibits Stubbs from engaging in fraud in violation the CEA, freezes Stubbs’ assets, and requires him to preserve books and records and return funds misappropriated from customers. The order also requires him to provide the CFTC with immediate access to his books and records.

“The CFTC is gratified the court considered the voluminous evidence the Division of Enforcement presented and found the injunction was warranted,” said Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley. “The CFTC will continue to pursue alleged participants in fraudulent schemes regardless of their denials or attempts to hide their involvement in a scheme.” 

The CFTC’s January 2022 complaint charged defendants Jase Davis of Brandon, Mississippi; Borys Konovalenko of Ukraine; Anna Shymko of Duluth, Georgia; Alla Skala of Grand Island, New York and/or Fort Erie, Canada; Timothy Stubbs of Atlanta, Georgia; Notus LLC d/b/a ROFX, a Colorado limited liability company; Easy Com LLC d/b/a ROFX, a New Hampshire limited liability company; Global E-Advantages LLC a/k/a Kickmagic LLC d/b/a ROFX, a Delaware limited liability company and New York foreign limited liability company; Grovee LLC d/b/a ROFX, a Delaware limited liability company; and Shopostar LLC d/b/a ROFX, a Colorado limited liability company. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8486-22]

The complaint alleged from approximately January 2018 through September 2021, the defendants’ companies, acting as a common enterprise under the control of the individual defendants, used ROFX.net to fraudulently solicit and misappropriate at least $58 million from U.S. and international customers for purported trading in forex.

The CFTC seeks restitution to defrauded customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and permanent injunctions against further violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations, as charged.

The CFTC cautions victims that restitution orders may not result in the recovery of money lost because the wrongdoers may not have sufficient funds or assets. 

The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this case are Danielle Karst, Timothy J. Mulreany, George H. Malas, Kelly Makimoto-Murphy, and Paul G. Hayeck.

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CFTC’s Forex Fraud Advisory

The CFTC has issued several customer protection Fraud Advisories and Articles that provide the warning signs of fraud, including the Foreign Currency Trading (Forex) Fraud Advisory, which alerts customers to forex fraud and lists simple ways to spot forex scams.

The CFTC also strongly urges the public to verify a company’s registration with the CFTC before committing funds. If unregistered, a customer should be wary of providing funds to that company. A company’s registration status can be found using NFA BASIC.

Customers and other individuals can report suspicious activities or information, such as possible violations of commodity trading laws, to the Division of Enforcement via a toll-free hotline 866-FON-CFTC (866-366-2382), file a tip or complaint online, or contact the WhistleblowerOffice. Whistleblowers may be eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected paid from the Customer Protection Fund financed through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA.