The NFA took an emergency enforcement action against Crabapple Capital Group LLC and its principal, Robert Allen Christy. CCG is a Georgia-based commodity pool operator (“CPO”) and commodity trading advisor (“CTA”).
Under the Member Responsibility Action (“MRA”) and the Associate Responsibility Action (“ARA”), the NFA prohibited CCG and Christy from soliciting or accepting client funds accounts, pools, and other investments. The NFA also prevented CCG from trading for their clients, releasing or moving any funds without NFA approval. Through the ARA and MRA, the NFA intends to insulate CCG’s and Christy’s futures and forex clients, as well as other investment clients controlled by the defendants. The CPO/CTA failed to produce information requested by the NFA. The regulator alleges that the CCG and Christy also gave falsified documents regarding performance history.
According to the NFA, Christy and the CCG distributed an unapproved disclosure document dated October 2011, that listed unsupported and inflated futures with returns. The returns, from 2006 through September 2011, ranged from 10% to 27%. Christy has not supported the document’s assertions. Furthermore, the unapproved document claimed that Christy’s investment group, Christy Investment Group Ltd. (“CIG”), claimed that the group was a register investment advisory firm. CIG’s website referred to the firm as a “boutique investment advisory firm,” but CIG is not registered with the Security and Exchange Commission.
The defendants are entitled to request a hearing before the NFA’s Hearing Committee.
