A Brookhaven man and his investment company face civil fraud charges for allegedly stealing money and lying to customers of a money-losing commodity-trading pool that he operated, according to federal authorities.
Hendrik A. Van Beuningen and his company, DeBrink Trading Fund I, LLC, allegedly collected at least $505,000 from five clients between 2014 and last month, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates trading of commodities-related investments.
The commission said Thursday that it filed sealed civil charges of fraud, misappropriation, and issuing false statements against Van Beuningen and his company earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten Sr. ordered that the assets of Van Beuningen and his company be frozen and the firm’s records be preserved and turned over to the commission.
Investigators said Van Beuningen invested less than half of the money he collected from clients in his commodity investment pool and misappropriated much of the money.
By September last year, investigators said, Van Beuningen lost all of the money invested in the pool through unprofitable trades.
But Van Beuningen told clients the pool had an investment return of more than 19 percent in 2014 and a nearly 32 percent profit through September last year, investigators said.
To cover up the losses, Van Beuningen sent false account statements to his clients, investigators said.
The commission said it is seeking return of the lost money and ill-gotten gains, civil penalties and court orders barring Van Beuningen and his company from the commodity futures industry.
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