The Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims that a Tarrytown man scammed at least nine investors in a bogus foreign exchange trading scheme.
The CFTC sued Eyal Alper on Oct. 24 in federal court, White Plains, seeking to stop him from soliciting more clients and compelling him to pay back at least $280,000.
“Alper misappropriated his customers”™ funds,” the lawsuit states, “and used those funds to pay for his personal expenses.”
Eleven weeks ago, Alper petitioned bankruptcy court for Chapter 7 liquidation, depicting himself as a 7-Eleven store manager in Irving, Texas, barely eking out a living. He gave no indications of a career of managing investments.
Alper did not respond to an email request for his side of the story.
The CFTC, an independent federal agency that regulates futures and options markets, contends that Alper has been soliciting customers since 2015 to invest in commodity futures and retail foreign exchange trading.
He represented himself as a successful trader with Alper Management Inc., according to the complaint, who controlled a $1 million master account at FxPro in the United Kingdom.
He allegedly told one customer that he had grown an account to $400,000, starting with $40,000.
He offered to open subaccounts for his customers and trade for them.
But Alper has never been registered with the CFTC, the complaint states. He did not have an account with FxPro or with any retail foreign exchange dealer.
He never opened any subaccounts and he placed no trades for his customers.
He allegedly sent account statements showing profits on which he charged a 30% commission.
All nine customers eventually asked to withdraw funds. Alper, according to the complaint, either failed to respond or delayed by claiming, for example, that the money was stuck overseas.
None of the nine customers got any money back, the CFTC says.
Alper allegedly deposited the funds in his own bank accounts and then used them for personal expenses such as international travel, restaurants and car rentals.
The CFTC complaint does not name his customers but lawsuits identify two.
Austin Stack of Atlanta sued Alper last year in Westchester Supreme Court. He had invested $40,000 and paid another $4,568 in commissions.
When Stack tried to cash out, he encountered a flurry of delays and excuses.
The court awarded Stack a $167,801 default judgment.
Brandon Whitsett sued Alper last year in Chancery Court for Rutherford County, Tennessee, near Nashville. He claimed he invested $40,000 on assurances that it would quickly grow to more than $100,000. He paid $25,732 in commissions.
Whitsett decided to cash out when his account had purportedly grown to $123,000. But Alper, according to the complaint, evaded him and made a series of excuses. Finally, Whitsett claimed, Alper said he would spend millions of dollars to make sure that Whitsett did not get a dime.
The Tennessee court awarded Whitsett a $57,537 judgement, and a Westchester judge approved it with no opposition from Alper.
Two weeks later, on Aug. 19, Alper filed for bankruptcy protection. He declared $3,200 in assets ”“ mostly clothing and a few pieces of furniture ”“ and $230,400 in liabilities.
He lists the Stack and Whitsett debts but characterizes them as disputed and as pending court cases.
He also lists as disputed a claim for “unknown” amount from the Borgata Hotel Casino Spa in Atlantic City.
Alper has worked as a convenience store manager for a year, according to his income schedule, making $1,765 a month. He has made nearly $15,000 this year, $893 last year and $800 in 2017.
In the past four years, he declared, he did not own or have any connections to any business.
In the CFTC case, the agency accuses Alper of fraud and engaging in prohibited activities.
The agency is asking for a court order stopping Alper from trading commodities for himself or others, and requiring him to make full restitution to his customers.
If he is not restrained, the CFTC argues, “Alper will likely continue to engage in the acts and practices alleged in this complaint.”
