The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin entered a consent order against Wisconsin resident Robert Narvett in connection with a fraudulent scheme.
The order requires Narvett to pay more than $185,000 in restitution to defrauded victims. It also permanently bans him from trading and registering with the CFTC and prohibits him from further violating provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act, as charged.
The order resolves a CFTC enforcement action filed in March 2021, which charged Narvett with fraud, misappropriation, and engaging in prohibited activities as a commodity trading advisor. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8367-21.]
According to the court’s findings, from at least December 2013 through March 2021, Narvett persuaded clients to let him manage their commodity futures trading accounts. He then abandoned them after losing money trading their accounts and misappropriating their investment funds. To solicit client funds, Narvett made numerous false and misleading statements about his trading successes and methods. He also failed to disclose that he was not registered with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor as required by the Commodity Exchange Act, and that a Wisconsin federal court had previously entered a judgment against him in a Securities and Exchange Commission case involving a fraudulent investment scheme.
In a related criminal case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin charged Narvett with wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. [See United States v. Narvett, No. 21-cr-00050 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 2, 2021).] In May 2022, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced to 15 years and ordered to pay $1.68 million in restitution.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the FBI.
The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Dmitriy Vilenskiy, Julia C. Colarusso, and Paul G. Hayeck, along with former staff members Luke Marsh and A. Daniel Ullman II.
