- Michael Ackerman defrauded about 150 investors
- And the total amount stolen was more than $33 million
- He will pay $27 million in compensation to victims
A former NYSE broker, Michael Ackerman, has agreed to pay a $54 million fine. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to a scheme to defraud about 150 investors of $33 million by engaging them in digital asset deals. The CFTC statement describes the form of payment of the decreed amount:
“As part of the agreement, Ackerman must pay $27 million in compensation to defrauded victims and another $27 million in civil monetary penalties related to a fraudulent digital asset trading scheme.”
The CFTC alleged in 2020 that Ackerman ran a fraud scheme, the core of which was to extort and misappropriate funds, allegedly to trade digital assets. In order to attract potential clients, Michael showed that he was trading digital assets and making a monthly profit of about 15 percent.
“Ackerman used various methods to hide his fraudulent activities. He provided clients with false financial statements, newsletters with manipulated trading results, and created fake screenshots pretending to have a significant amount of money under his management,” the CFTC wrote in a statement.