WASHINGTON (HedgeWorld.com)–The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that last month Judge James V. Selna of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California froze the assets of FX First Inc., a registered futures commission merchant, and the assets of two of its principals.
The CFTC’s announcement, Nov. 20, said that the court in mid-October enjoined all further violations of federal commodity law and prohibited destruction of the assets or records of the defendants: FX First, Newport Beach, Calif.; its secretary-treasurer, Alexey Mironov; and its president, William Whyte.
The defendants could not be reached for comment.
Judge Selna acted on a complaint filed by the CFTC Oct. 6, which alleged that FX First and Messrs. Mironov and White misappropriated almost US$2 million for the purpose of speculating on the value of foreign currency futures contracts. Defendants then refused the requests of at least 25 customers for the return of these funds.