An Indian mother-son duo have been sued by US authorities for allegedly engaging in an illegal trading scheme to earn more than $118,000.
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Deepak Singhal, a California resident, and his mother Meera Singhal, who lives in India.
In its complaint, CFTC said the mother-son duo were engaged in transactions in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and trading non-competitively in violation of a CFTC regulation, or aiding and abetting such violations.
The complaint, filed on January 9, alleged that since at least December 16, 2010, through December 29, 2010, they were engaged in a series of illegal commodity options transactions involving several types of foreign currency options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), specifically 424 non-competitive, fictitious trades.
"Through this allegedly illegal scheme, Deepak Singhal's account transferred profits of at least $118,868.75 to Meera Singhal's account, according to the complaint," the statement said.
In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks a return of ill-gotten gains, restitution, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and permanent injunctions against further violations of the federal commodities laws.