The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it obtained a federal court order imposing more than $5.4 million in restitution and a civil monetary penalty on defendants Linda Harris, Chance Harris and their companies, CDH Forex Investments, LLC (CDH Forex) and CDH Global Holdings, LLC (CDH Global), all of Flower Mound, Texas, for fraud in connection with the operation of a commodity pool and managed accounts trading off-exchange foreign currency (forex) contracts.

The default judgment order requires Linda Harris, Chance Harris, CDH Forex, and CDH Global jointly and severally to first pay $1,361,897 to defrauded customers as restitution for their losses and then pay $4,085,691 as a civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently prohibits them from engaging in any commodity- and forex-related activity and from registering with the CFTC. The order, entered on June 12, 2012, by Senior Judge Royal Furgeson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, stems from a CFTC complaint filed on October 25, 2011, that charged the defendants with fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation, and misrepresentation to pool participants and regulatory organizations in a multi-million dollar forex scheme (see CFTC press release 6127-11, October 25, 2011).

The CFTC complaint also charged the defendants with concealing their fraud by issuing false account statements to pool participants regarding the profitability of their investments. Linda Harris, CDH Forex, and CDH Global also were charged with making false statements and submitting falsified bank and account trading statements to the National Futures Association (NFA). The order finds defendants with fraudulent solicitation, misappropriation, and misrepresentation to pool participants and regulatory organizations in a multi-million dollar forex scheme liable as to all violations alleged in the CFTC’s complaint.