The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a federal default judgment order requiring defendants Dennis Todd Hagemann and his company, Yellowstone Partners, Inc (Yellowstone), both of Raleigh, NC, to pay more than USD1.6 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties for defrauding investors in a foreign currency (forex) Ponzi scheme.

The order, entered by Chief US District Judge Louise W. Flanagan of the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, requires Hagemann and Yellowstone jointly and severally to pay restitution of USD827,779 and a civil monetary penalty of USD827,779. The order also permanently prohibits defendants from engaging in any commodity-related activity and from registering with the CFTC in any capacity.

The order finds that, from at least September 2009 through March 9, 2010, Yellowstone Partners fraudulently solicited and received USD1,505,000 from at least 25 pool participants. The order further finds that Hagemann was running a Ponzi scheme and misappropriated approximately USD1.3 million of customer funds. Hagemann fraudulently solicited pool participants through personal solicitations during which he falsely claimed to have experience and success in forex trading, promised profits of 100 percent to 300 percent and stated that he had well-placed contacts who could help his investments and had USD500 million under his control, the order finds.