CFTC v. Emini Experts LLC and others (fraud and asset freeze, 2014)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

Report an error in this record (cftc-7052-14-2014) by email

In November 2014 the CFTC announced that a Florida federal court had frozen the assets of Emini Experts LLC, Capital Trading Concepts LLC and their owner Dante S. Giovannetti, alleged to have solicited at least $700,000 using fictitious account statements. On June 22, 2016 the CFTC announced a default final judgment ordering $663,975 in restitution and penalties totalling $2,131,926, with relief defendant Capital Futures LLC to disgorge $143,358. Giovannetti was sentenced to 63 months in the related criminal case.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$2.1m

Disgorgement

$143k

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$2.3m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on November 6, 2014 as release 7052-14. The respondents named are Emini Experts LLC, Capital Trading Concepts LLC, Dante S. Giovannetti and Capital Futures LLC (1 individual, 3 entities).

The complaint alleges the defendants showed investors invented trading statements with large fictitious profits in E-mini S&P 500 futures, acted as unregistered pool operators, and mixed pool funds. Capital Futures LLC is named as a relief defendant. The word "fictitious" here describes fabricated account statements, not trades.

This library applies no technique tag to the matter. The conduct is solicitation fraud and misappropriation, which is not wash trading.

The court entered a restraining order and asset freeze early in the case.

Outcome. The CFTC's June 22, 2016 release says Judge Paul Byron of the Middle District of Florida entered a default final judgment against Giovannetti, Emini and Capital Trading. It orders them jointly to pay $663,975 in restitution and a $1,991,926 civil monetary penalty, with a further $140,000 penalty jointly on Emini and Giovannetti (the structured penalty field sums the two, $2,131,926). Relief defendant Capital Futures LLC must disgorge $143,358. The order permanently enjoins the defendants from commodity-related activity and from registering with the CFTC. It finds that they fraudulently solicited and misappropriated pool funds, issued false statements, commingled funds and failed to register; these are default findings. Giovannetti was sentenced to 63 months in United States v. Giovannetti with restitution in the same amounts. The release gives the announcement date, not the date of signing.

Timeline

1. 2014-11-06 CFTC release published
2. 2016-06-22 CFTC announces default final judgment: restitution, penalties, disgorgement by relief defendant

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• CFTC release
• CFTC release 7395-16 (default judgment)

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.