The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has obtained a consent order imposing a USD700,000 civil monetary penalty against defendants Charles Steven Goodie of San Diego, California, and his California-based business CSG Commodity Service Group.

The consent order imposes a permanent injunction against the defendants finding that they violated the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged. In addition to the permanent injunction, the consent order imposes permanent trading and registration bans against the defendants and orders the defendants to pay restitution of USD494,633.

The order stems from a CFTC complaint filed on 23 November 2011, which charged the defendants with solicitation fraud, making false statements, misappropriation of investors’ funds, the improper operation of a commodity pool, failure to register as a commodity pool operator (CPO), failure to register as an associated person of a CPO, and failure to comply with disclosure requirements.

The consent order finds that, from at least May 2008 through March 2011, Goodie and CSG fraudulently solicited and accepted approximately USD494,000 from 15 members of the general public in connection with defendants’ operation of a commodity pool. Defendants solicited prospective pool participants telling them that their funds would be used to trade futures contracts in silver, copper, natural gas, and oil, and that the profits from the trading would be shared by the pool participants, according to the order. In fact, the order finds that Goodie used some of the funds to pay his personal expenses and sent pool participants false account statements. The consent order also finds that the defendants violated the registration and disclosure requirements, as charged.

In a related criminal prosecution based on substantially the same facts, Goodie pled guilty in the US District Court for the Southern District of California to one count of wire fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for 5 November at 8:30 a.m. Goodie remains free on a USD100,000 personal recognizance bond.