The SEC obtained an emergency court order halting an alleged offering fraud conducted by a purported trader in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  It's alleged that Christopher Love Blackwell sold investments in a phony fixed income trading program, promising investors risk-free, guaranteed monthly investment returns ranging up to 30%.  He presented himself as an experienced trader and advisor in a variety of securities and services, including hedge funds and international bank instruments.

Three million in investor funds was spent on unrelated business activities and personal expenditures, and while $500,000 was distributed in Ponzi-like payments. Neither Blackwell nor his two firms also charged in the SEC’s enforcement action have ever registered with the SEC or any state regulator to sell securities.

The SEC worked closely with law enforcement agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on the case.  Blackwell first came under ICE HSI attention due to large wire transfers and cash transactions.  He pitched his trading program to an undercover ICE HSI agent during which time he made numerous false and misleading representations including risk-free returns of "25 to 30% per month with regularity."   In a later conversation, he touted having connections that were acquired while working for Goldman Sachs and The Bank of Madrid - neither were true. 

    SEC Staff Credits.   Stephen Korotash, Associate Regional Director, Toby Galloway, Regional Trial Counsel - both Fort Worth Regional Office. [SEC PR 11-50, 2/24]