The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained a court order imposing heavy penalties on Darren Robinson, a former resident of Miami, Florida, and his company, The QYU Holdings Inc (QYUHI). The relevant order was signed earlier this week by Judge Linda V. Parker of the Eastern District of Michigan.

Robinson and QYUHI are required jointly and severally to pay restitution to defrauded customers in the amount of $5,923,515.37, plus post-judgment interest. The defendants must also pay civil monetary penalties, jointly and severally, of $5,923,515.37 ("CMP Obligations"), plus post-judgment interest, thereby concluding a case filed by the CFTC in September 2023.

The complaint alleges that Robinson and QYUHI engaged in fraud, registration, and record-keeping violations involving a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Robinson, acting individually and as an agent of QYUHI, collected at least $7.1 million from U.S. customers.

The complaint alleges that from January 1, 2017, through the present (the relevant period), Robinson and QYUHI operated a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Robinson, acting individually and as an agent of QYUHI, solicited individuals to participate in commodity pools operated by QYUHI, engaging in commodity interest transactions, including retail foreign exchange transactions and foreign currency futures contracts, on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis, with participants not being eligible contract participants (retail forex) and forex futures contract participants.

Robinson and QYUHI did not trade pool participants' funds but instead misappropriated all pool participants' funds directly into QYUHI's bank accounts controlled by Robinson, rather than depositing the funds directly into pool accounts maintained in the names of futures commission merchants and/or retail foreign exchange dealers.

Robinson and QYUHI misappropriated, and continued to misappropriate, participants' funds to pay for Robinson's personal expenses, including, but not limited to, luxury cruises, airfare, vehicles, as well as real estate purchases, credit card payments, and other daily living expenses.

Additionally, Robinson used approximately $1,272,850 of later participants' funds to pay purported "profits" and/or "redemptions" to earlier participants, similar to a Ponzi scheme.