CFTC v. Former CBOE Member Alvin Guy Wilkinson and his Connecticut-based Entities (ponzi schemes, 2016)

Judgment entered

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In June 2016 the CFTC charged former CBOE member Alvin Guy Wilkinson and two Connecticut funds with a commodity pool fraud. On November 22, 2016 a federal court in Chicago entered a default judgment requiring a $12.38 million civil penalty, $4.13 million in disgorgement and $5.39 million in restitution, with permanent trading and registration bans.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$12.4m

Disgorgement

$4.1m

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$16.5m

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 June 29, 2016 as release 7398-16. The respondents named are Former CBOE Member Alvin Guy Wilkinson and his Connecticut-based Entities (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The conduct is recorded against futures.

Non-monetary relief recorded: trading ban.

CFTC release 7492-16 reports that Judge Virginia Kendall entered a default judgment and permanent injunction on November 22, 2016 against Wilkinson, Chicago Index Partners, L.P. and Wilkinson Financial Opportunity Fund, L.P. The order requires them, jointly and severally, to pay a civil monetary penalty of $12,382,207.20, to disgorge $4,127,402.40, and to pay $5,389,381 in restitution (restitution is not a field on this site), and it imposes permanent trading and registration bans. Because the judgment was by default, the defendants did not contest it, although the release says the court made findings, including that Wilkinson misappropriated pool funds from 30 investors in a Ponzi-like scheme. This page relies on the CFTC's release and has not read the order itself. Checked on 2026-10-04.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Ponzi schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2016-06-28 CFTC release published
2. 2016-11-22 Default judgment and permanent injunction entered (CFTC 7492-16)

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 7492-16 (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.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.