A federal court ordered NOLA FX founder Michael B. DePetrillo and his two companies to pay a $9,211,492 civil penalty over a fraudulent retail forex operation. The judgment also bars all three from CFTC-regulated markets.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ordered Michael B. DePetrillo and his companies, Meteor LLC and NOLA FX Capital Management LLC, to pay a $9,211,492 civil monetary penalty for their part in the scheme. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the default judgment resolves its civil case and permanently bars the three defendants from trading in CFTC-regulated markets or registering with the agency.
However, the penalty is not the only bill. DePetrillo was also ordered to pay $6,748,412 in restitution when he received a nine-year prison sentence in July 2025, after pleading guilty in February 2025.
How the NOLA FX Fund hid diverted money
DePetrillo and his companies told investors they would pool money in the NOLA FX Fund and use it to trade leveraged currency contracts. Instead, contributions from new investors helped pay earlier participants, while false account statements presented the fund as profitable.
According to the Justice Department, DePetrillo collected approximately $9.2 million from around 55 investors over seven years. In the civil case, the court found the defendants had misappropriated more than $3 million of participant funds, spending it on those payouts, DePetrillo's personal expenses and trading in his own accounts.
Other CFTC cases this year
The DePetrillo judgment is one of several CFTC actions this year involving investment pools presented as trading businesses. In August, the regulator sued Goliath Ventures, alleging it took at least $397 million for cryptocurrency trading while issuing statements showing profits that did not exist.
A month later, the CFTC brought a case against Cash FX Group, alleging the company collected more than $950 million for a purported forex trading pool. The Goliath and Cash FX figures remain allegations in the CFTC's lawsuits.
Source: Finance Magnates
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