The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is pushing for an entry of default in its lawsuit against Lions of Forex LLC (LOF).
In its motion, filed on December 19, 2023, the regulator explains that the Court should enter default against LOF for its failure to answer to the complaint.
The CFTC complaint, filed with the Florida Southern District Court on September 28, 2023, alleges that from at least January 2019 to at least March 2021, Roberto Pulido a/k/a Berto Delvanicci, aided and abetted by Lions of Forex LLC (LOF), fraudulently solicited clients for the purported purpose of trading leveraged or margined retail off-exchange foreign currency in accounts to be managed on their behalf.
Some of the clients solicited by the defendants subscribed to a retail forex signals trading service offered by LOF for which LOF offered to send signals to buy or sell retail forex for a monthly fee, and, for a higher monthly fee, offered live one-on-one training with “Berto Delvanicci.”
In fraudulently soliciting these clients, Defendants made use of the mails and other means or instrumentalities of interstate commerce, i.e., social media platforms, LOF’s website, texts and/or other forms of electronic and telephonic communications.
Pulido, aided and abetted by LOF, falsely represented to clients that they would earn guaranteed monthly profits by having Pulido use his discretion to purportedly trade retail forex on their behalf, and that clients could withdraw their funds and have them returned at any time.
Based on these fraudulent representations and omissions, clients were fraudulently induced to transfer at least $175,000 to bank accounts in the name of LOF and others, all of which were controlled by Pulido, for the purported purpose of having Pulido use his discretion to trade retail forex on their behalf.
Clients were not paid their guaranteed monthly profits as promised, and, in spite of clients’ requests to Pulido and/or LOF to return their funds, client funds totalling at least $170,000 have not been returned to clients.
At the time such representations were made, Pulido acted intentionally or recklessly in falsely guaranteeing profits from the trading and falsely representing that clients could withdraw their funds and have them returned at any time. LOF knew that these representations made by Pulido were false.
The entry of default is typically followed by a judgment of default, which will outline the penalties (fines, injunctions, etc) in this case.
