The Honorable Edmond E. Chang of the Illinois Northern District Court has granted a request by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for an entry of default against Coby Young, the owner of Young Emerging Strategies LLC.
The request was granted in light of the effectuated service and lack of a response to the complaint.
In November 2023, the CFTC filed a complaint against Coby Young and his firm, Young Emerging Strategies LLC, both of Illinois. The complaint charges the defendants with fraud in connection with leveraged, margined, or financed retail foreign currency transactions (retail forex), fraud by a commodity pool operator, registration violations, disclosure and recordkeeping violations, and commingling pool property.
In its complaint, the CFTC seeks restitution to pool participants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, as charged.
The complaint alleges, from at least August 2019 through the present, the defendants directly solicited individuals via a website, social media, and in person to participate in retail forex trading classes. The defendants approached certain class participants to join a retail forex trading pool operated by the defendants.
The defendants received approximately $300,000 from pool participants by promising, among other things, to double the investments of many or all of the pool participants through retail forex trading. However, the defendants misappropriated the majority of the funds for personal expenses, cash withdrawals, and payments to other pool participants. The defendants also failed to register with the CFTC, provide necessary disclosures to pool participants, and keep required records.
