U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that Michael Brian Depetrillo, a 43-year-old resident of New Orleans, has been charged with violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The charges were filed on January 27, 2025.
According to the bill of information, Depetrillo was not properly registered as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) or an Associated Person (AP) of a CPO with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Through several companies, including Meteor, LLC; NOLA FX Capital Management, LLC; ELC Enterprise Solutions, LLC; and Argosapolis, LLC, Depetrillo allegedly acted as a CPO and AP of a CPO and embezzled client funds in violation of federal law.
Depetrillo reportedly told investors their funds would be pooled and invested in the NOLA FX Fund for trading foreign currency pairs on a leveraged basis. He claimed this pooling would benefit them and represented that either Meteor or NOLA FX Capital managed the fund. However, he misappropriated these funds instead of investing them as promised.
The misappropriated funds were used by Depetrillo for personal expenses such as rent and private air travel and to make lulling payments to existing pool participants. To conceal his actions, he created fictitious account statements under NOLA FX Fund and NOLA FX Capital names. These statements falsely showed profitable forex trading returns which never occurred.
Over approximately seven years, Depetrillo took around $9.2 million from about 60 investors without setting up the forex pool according to regulations or depositing participant funds into proper accounts.
If convicted, Depetrillo faces up to ten years imprisonment along with fines potentially exceeding $1 million plus any proceeds gained through his activities.
U.S. Attorney Evans emphasized that "a bill of information is merely a charge" requiring proof beyond reasonable doubt for conviction.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating this case while seeking public assistance in identifying potential victims through http://fbi.gov/depetrillovictims.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn McHugh and Brian M. Klebba are handling prosecution efforts within the Financial Crimes Unit.