PHOENIX (CN) - Tucson-based foreign currency trader Anthony Eugene Linton was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution and penalties for running a Ponzi scheme.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission obtained a federal court order against Linton, who did business as The Private Trading Pool.
The CFTC sued Linton in January with fraud and misappropriation for the scam he ran from October 2007 through January 2011. Linton promised his suckers 100 percent return on their investments, the CFTC said.
He spent their money on his mortgage and car payments and buying stuff on eBay, the judge found.
Linton was fined $1,044,366, and ordered to disgorge and pay restitution of $384,122.
The CFTC order also prohibited him from doing it, or any commodity trading activity, ever again.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.