CFTC charges hedge fund with fraud, freezes assets

Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Author: Reuters.co.uk

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday it was charging a Philadelphia hedge fund and commodity pool with fraud and had obtained a federal court order to freeze the company's assets.

In a press release, the CFTC said a federal court in Pennsylvania had entered a restraining order against Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management Co., LLC, and its president Paul Eustace of Ontario, Canada. The court ordered a freeze of the defendants' assets, preventing destruction or alteration of their books and records and appointing a receiver to take control of their assets.

The CFTC said the defendants had been charged with issuing false trading results to pool participants, fraudulently soliciting prospective pool participants and accepting at least $680,000 from at least one member of the general public.