CFTC Busts Alleged Florida Ponzi Scheme

TAMPA (CN) – Beau Diamond raised $37 million for foreign exchange trading in a Ponzi scheme he ran through his unregistered company Diamond Ventures, but invested only $15 million of it and swiped more than $1 million outright, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission claims in Federal Court.     Diamond, of Sarasota, “guaranteed” monthly returns of 2.75 percent to 5 percent, but actually lost money on his trades, the CFTC says. So he paid off old victims from his fresh meat, “operating a Ponzi scheme,” according to the complaint.     Diamond filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March, the CFTC says.