US regulator charges 5 Israelis in $165 million binary options fraud scheme
Josh, Jonathan and David Cartu, previously sued in Canada, are charged by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission with ‘targeting and victimizing US residents’
The CFTC civil complaint alleges that for at least five years — from May 1, 2013, through April 29, 2018 — Canadian-Israeli brothers David Cartu, Jonathan Cartu and Joshua Cartu, and Canadian-Israeli brothers Leeav Peretz and Nati Peretz, operated call centers primarily located in Israel that “targeted and victimized U.S. residents” through an online trading scam.
The CFTC also sued Ryan Masten, a Texas-based business associate of the other defendants, as well as four companies belonging to the defendants, All Out Marketing Limited, BareIt Media LLC d/b/a SignalPush, Blue Moon Investments Ltd., and Orlando Union Inc.
“The Cartu Brothers, acting in concert with Defendants Leeav Peretz and Nati Peretz, offered illegal, off-exchange binary option trading on currency pairs, oil, and other commodities on internet websites through customer-facing brands they owned and operated including ‘BeeOptions,’ ‘Glenridge Capital,’ and ‘Rumelia,’ reads the complaint.
The complaint accuses the defendants and their employees of promising investors quick returns even though most investors actually lost their money. It accuses them of allegedly misrepresenting their business model, saying that their interests were aligned with those of their investors when in fact they were not. Employees also allegedly lied about their professional expertise, their identity and location.
“On the Cartu Brands’ websites and in emails, telephone calls, and other communications with customers and prospective customers, the Cartu Brothers, Peretz Brothers, and the individual brokers promised ‘quick’ returns of ‘60-85%,’” reads the complaint, “even though the substantial majority of customers lost money. They falsely stated that the interests of the Cartu Brands were aligned with the interest of customers and failed to disclose that the Cartu Brands (and the Cartu Brothers and Peretz Brothers themselves) profited from customer losses. Further, at the direction of the Cartu Brothers and Peretz Brothers, the brokers misrepresented their financial expertise, compensation structure, physical location, and identity.”
According to the complaint, Jonathan Cartu and his brothers began their allegedly fraudulent binary options business in April 2013, with a binary options website called BeeOptions that “operated out of a conference room in the offices of an Israeli-based gaming company owned by Josh and David.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-regulator-charges-5-israelis-in-165-million-binary-options-fraud-scheme/