Court Not Swayed by Bid for Appointment Of Attorney for CFTC Antifraud Defendants

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Sept. 26 declined to appoint a lawyer to represent a couple facing Commodity Futures Trading Commission charges over their alleged roles in an alleged precious metals futures and options fraud (CFTC v. American Bullion Exchange).

In a decision by Judge David O. Carter, the court acknowledged that under “exceptional circumstances,” it may ask counsel voluntarily to provide representation. However, those circumstances are not present here.

Fraudulent Solicitation.

Late last year, the CFTC charged Ryan Nassbridges and his two companies with fraudulently soliciting at least 80 customers to invest ...