Arab Israeli charged with Forex Trading Ponzi Scheme

According to the feds, and with a last name difficult to pronounce, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Diego Rodriguez, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today that FADI EWIESS, a/k/a “Fadi Awise,” was arrested Saturday morning on wire fraud charges stemming from his participation in a scheme to defraud investors through the operation of a purported foreign exchange (“forex”) trading company.  EWIESS was charged with raising over $5.8 million by representing to investors that his company would trade foreign currencies on their behalf, that he would generate high rates of return in so doing, and that his investors’ capital would be guaranteed by third-party financial institutions.  Instead of engaging in forex transactions with his investors’ money, however, EWIESS largely spent the money on personal expenses like gambling or making distributions to other investors.  EWIESS was arrested Saturday morning in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “As alleged, Fadi Ewiess lied to prospective investors about his company’s expertise in the foreign exchange markets and sent them forged ‘guarantees’ from New York banks to lure them into investing with him.  Through his fraud scheme, "Ewiess allegedly raised more than $5.8 million from victims around the globe, spending much of that money on his own gambling and personal expenses.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriguez said:  “As alleged, Ewiess ran a multimillion dollar ponzi scheme under the guise of a foreign exchange trading company. Instead of using investor money for foreign exchanges, Ewiess traveled and gambled the money away or paid investors to continue to invest in his scheme. Making sure our markets are fair to all investors and bringing charges against those who profit remains a top priority for the FBI.”

According to the Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:

From 2015 through 2016, EWIESS operated a company (the “Company”) that purported to host an online foreign currency trading platform.  Investors could either trade currencies themselves, or have the Company trade on their behalf.  EWIESS represented that the Company had expertise in forex trading and could achieve outsized returns, and that investor funds being traded by the Company would be fully guaranteed against losses by a particular United States bank—assuming that the investor provided a sufficiently high amount of money.  To substantiate this purported guarantee, moreover, EWIESS distributed forged documents that appeared to have been (but in actuality were not) issued by the relevant bank.  EWIESS also employed other individuals in his scheme, promising large commissions, as well as prizes like watches and cellular telephones, to individuals who raised money for the scheme.

EWIESS and others raised more than $5.8 million during the course of the scheme, with much of this money coming from investors in Saudi Arabia and other countries.  Instead of using investor proceeds to trade currencies, as the he and the Company had promised, however, EWIESS spent millions of his investors’ money on personal expenses like travel and hotels, on gambling trips, and on transfers to his family members.  Other investor money was used to pay returns to investors so that they would invest or refer additional money to EWIESS and the Company, thereby allowing the scheme to continue for a longer period of time. 

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EWIESS, 38, of Israel, is charged with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.  Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. "

The arrest of this individual will be a real shock. Someone who is making millions and then the handcuffs come on is going to be jolted with a reality check. By the amount of money this scheme raised, it shows how much greedy people are. They may claim they are victims but everybody wants to make an easy buck and look what happens. The money is thrown into the ocean. In this case, they shut him down pretty quickly. My fraud lasted 13 years. Why do some cases take much longer than others? In my case, government was making millions off my work so maybe there was an incentive not to come crashing down on me in the 90's but instead waited till 2011 to pick me up. You read about these fraud stories almost every day. Will it ever stop? Is it not locking people up a dis incentive for others to do the same thing? Obviously not. People are people and someone's folly will not affect the next individual in his/her desire to make millions, even with lies and fabrications.  

How much time will he get? It depends if he takes a plea, if he is remorseful, will he rat out bigger fish, how much he stole etc...Those are all factors on how much time he will get. If I would have to guess, I would say in the five year range.

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