TWO MEN CHARGED AND ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH FOREX PONZI SCHEME
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced the arrests of defendants Pedro De Sousa, 38, of Orlando, and Guillermo Rosario, 41, of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Defendant De Sousa was arrested in Orlando, FL, on July 12, 2010; defendant Rosario was arrested in San Juan, PR, on July 13, 2010. Both defendants appeared in court after their arrests. De Sousa and Rosario were charged with mail and wire fraud for their alleged involvement in a Ponzi scheme involving the FOREX (foreign currency markets).
The indictment charges the defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1349, three counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1341, and 57 counts of wire fraud, in violation o f 18 U.S.C. §1343. Each offense carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ incarceration.
According to the indictment, the defendants operated businesses called FX Professional Solutions and FX Professional International Solutions. These businesses solicited investors in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties with false claims. These false claims included false statements about their experience trading in foreign currencies and their history of securing consistently high returns for investors. In addition, the defendants also falsely claimed that they were trading investor funds in foreign currency markets. In reality, however, the defendants misappropriated and lost investor funds, and attempted to conceal their fraud by paying older investors with funds from newer investors in a pyramid or Ponzi scheme fashion, and by providing investors with false account statements.
In addition to the criminal case and coinciding with these arrests, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a separate civil action against the defendants in the Southern District of Florida.
Mr. Ferrer commended the FBI for its work in this investigation. In addition, Mr. Ferrer noted the efforts of the CFTC in connection with its civil suit. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the Coral Gables Police Department for its assistance in this criminal investigation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin.
An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
