The CFTC filed a complaint against Helmut H. Weber and Weber Capital Management of Scottsdale, Arizona, charging Weber with operating a fraudulent off-exchange foreign currency scheme.

The CFTC complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Phoenix Division on March 9, 2010, alleges that Weber, through personal solicitations and his websites — www.weberfx.com, www.webercapitalmanagement.com and www.newtempsite.com — fraudulently solicited customers to invest at least $280,000 in forex trading. The complaint also alleges that, contrary to Weber’s representations, only a fraction of customer funds were actually traded and that the majority of the funds were misappropriated to pay for Weber’s lavish lifestyle.

Additionally, Weber continued to solicit prospective and existing clients even after the Arizona Corporation Commission, Securities Division, served a “cease and desist” order upon him on September 12, 2008, according to the complaint. The order required him to stop certain forex business activities and to close two of his websites. The state of Arizona subsequently on October 22, 2008, indicted him on 29 criminal violations, including fraud and theft, related to his forex solicitation activities. The criminal charges against Weber remain pending.

In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks restitution of funds to defrauded customers, the repayment of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties and permanent trading and registration bans.