CFTC v. Vasquez, Vasquez Global Investments (ponzi schemes, 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-north-carolina-resident-edwin-a-vasquez-ponzi-schemes-2014) by email

In August 2014 the CFTC announced a Western District of North Carolina action, filed July 30, against Edwin A. Vasquez and Vasquez Global Investments, LLC, alleging a commodity pool fraud that returned some money to participants as purported profits in the manner of a Ponzi scheme. On December 30, 2014 the court entered a default judgment ordering $331,556 in restitution, a $994,668 penalty and permanent trading, solicitation and registration bans.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$995k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$995k

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 complaint alleges that from August 2011 the defendants took at least $583,491 from 19 participants by calling the pool "no risk", lost $65,374 trading, returned $186,561 as purported profits, and misappropriated $331,556 for operating costs and personal use. A restraining order of August 1, 2014 froze assets and set a preliminary injunction hearing.

The record carried descriptive phrases ("North Carolina Resident", "His Company") as part of the names.

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes because the document describes payments to earlier participants made from later participants' money. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

Outcome. According to the CFTC's December 30, 2014 release, Judge Martin Reidinger entered an Order of Default Judgment that day against Vasquez and his company, jointly and severally requiring $331,556 in restitution and a $994,668 civil monetary penalty and imposing permanent trading, solicitation and registration bans. The order finds that of $583,491 solicited from at least 19 participants, $65,374 was lost trading and $331,556 was misappropriated for operating costs and personal spending, with false statements issued to hide it. Because it is a default judgment, the findings were not contested by the defendants. The release shows no disgorgement figure and cautions that restitution may not be recovered.

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. 2014-08-07 CFTC release published
2. 2014-12-30 Court enters default judgment: restitution, penalty and permanent bans

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 7097-14 (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.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.