CFTC Files Complaint Against Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. and Ru...
Commission Seeks an Order Freezing Assets and Restitution of Customer Funds.
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that it filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Peregrine Financial Group Inc. (PFG), a registered futures commission merchant, and its owner, Russell R. Wasendorf, Sr. (Wasendorf). The Complaint alleges that PFG and Wasendorf committed fraud by misappropriating customer funds, violated customer fund segregation laws, and made false statements in financial statements filed with the Commission.
The National Futures Association (NFA) is PFG’s Designated Self-Regulatory Organization and is responsible for monitoring and auditing PFG for compliance with the minimum financial and related reporting requirements. According to the Complaint, in July 2012 during an NFA audit, PFG falsely represented that it held in excess of $220 million of customer funds when in fact it held approximately $5.1 million.