The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has resolved all claims in the CFTC’s September 2024 case against Qian Bai, Chao Li, Lan Bai, and UK companies Aipu Limited and Fidefx Investments Ltd. The court found the defendants operated fraudulent websites for more than 18 months, solicited and misappropriated at least USD 3,630,849 from at least 34 customers, and did so in connection with leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions, off-exchange retail foreign currency contracts, and commodity futures contracts. A 22 May default judgment against Qian Bai, Li, Aipu Limited, and Fidefx requires joint and several payment of a USD 13,863,170 civil monetary penalty and USD 4,621,056 in restitution, and imposes permanent injunctions and bans on trading in any CFTC-regulated markets, entering into transactions involving commodity interests, and registering with the CFTC. A 14 July order against Lan Bai requires her to pay, jointly and severally, a USD 699,534 civil monetary penalty and USD 233,178 in restitution, alongside a permanent injunction and similar trading and registration bans under an earlier consent order; the CFTC also cautioned that restitution orders may not result in recovered funds if wrongdoers lack sufficient assets.

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