The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a consent order charging a New York resident with fraud in one of the agency’s first crypto-related enforcement actions under acting Chair Caroline Pham.
In a Feb. 10 notice, the CFTC said US authorities had charged Rashawn Russell with engaging in a digital assets trading scheme from 2020 to 2022, in which he solicited investors to contribute cryptocurrency to a fraudulent fund. According to the complaint, Russell misappropriated roughly $1.5 million through the scheme, which had him plead guilty to wire fraud in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
“Russell guaranteed no loss to investors, and in some instances, guaranteed a minimum twenty-five percent return,” said the CFTC complaint filed on Jan. 16. “In reality, Russell intentionally and/or recklessly made false or misleading statements to solicit and retain investors.”
The enforcement case was one of the agency’s first actions since acting Chair Pham announced on Feb. 4 that the CFTC would be restructuring its Division of Enforcement’s priorities to focus on fraud. The commission said it planned to divide responsibilities for enforcement cases into two task forces focused on retail fraud and “complex fraud and manipulation.”
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Members at the CFTC elected Pham as acting chair on Jan. 20 amid the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, whom many expect will nominate a commissioner to fill former Chair Rostin Behnam’s seat. Behnam stepped down as chair on Jan. 20 but remained at the CFTC until Feb. 7, leaving the commission one seat shy of a full panel.
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During the 2024 fiscal year under Behnam, the CFTC reported more than $17 billion in monetary relief, stemming mainly from the agency’s actions against crypto exchange FTX. Pham’s announcement regarding the commission’s shift in priorities suggested that the CFTC would focus less on regulating by enforcement for crypto firms handling digital assets considered commodities.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission — the country’s other significant financial regulator overseeing digital assets — announced in January that it would form a crypto task force to develop a regulatory framework. Trump appointed SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair following the departure of Gary Gensler until the US Senate can consider the nomination of former commissioner Paul Atkins.
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