Michael Brian Depetrillo, a 43-year-old man from New Orleans, is facing federal charges related to commodities trading. He is accused of failing to register as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) or an Associated Person (AP) of a CPO with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as required by law. These charges were outlined in a bill of information dated on Monday.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Depetrillo allegedly deceived around 60 investors out of approximately $9.2 million over seven years through a series of companies, including Meteor, LLC; NOLA FX Capital Management, LLC; ELC Enterprise Solutions, LLC, and Argosapolis, LLC. These actions violated federal law.
Depetrillo is accused of promising investors that their money would be pooled into the NOLA FX FUND for leveraged foreign currency trading. However, instead of using the funds for trading, he allegedly used them for personal expenses, such as rent, private air travel, and online gambling. The prosecution claims that the funds were never deposited into the trading accounts as promised.
To maintain the illusion of success, Depetrillo allegedly created false account statements for NOLA FX FUND and NOLA FX CAPITAL, falsely showing significant profits from forex trading. Depetrillo never placed the pool participant funds into the trading accounts for NOLA FX FUND or NOLA FX CAPITAL, and he did not generate the trading returns shown on the fabricated account statements. Additionally, Depetrillo is accused of mixing personal and pool funds, violating regulatory requirements.
If convicted, Depetrillo could face up to ten years in prison, supervised release, fines exceeding a million dollars, and a mandatory special assessment fee. The FBI is continuing the investigation and is seeking help from the public to identify additional victims.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn McHugh and Brian M. Klebba, Chief of the Financial Crimes Unit, are handling the prosecution. According to U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans, and the Department of Justice, the bill of information is a formal charge, and Depetrillo's guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
