Tennessee Federal Court Orders Christian Kis of Hendersonville, Tennessee to Pay More Than $900,000 in Penalties in Hedge Fund Fraud Action
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing of a consent order of permanent injunction against Christian Kis of Hendersonville, Tennessee finding that he committed fraud in operating Raptor Capital, Inc. and requiring Kis to pay $815,800 in restitution to his defrauded customers and a $130,000 civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently prohibits Kis from engaging in any commodity-related activity, including registering with the CFTC in any capacity.
Kis controlled and operated Raptor Capital, a Nevada corporation, as a hedge fund. The consent order settles a CFTC enforcement action filed on September 27, 2006. (See CFTC Press Release 5246-06, Oct. 12, 2006.)
The order, entered on February 6, 2008, by the Honorable William J. Haynes, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, finds that Kis, from October 2002 until approximately January 2006, fraudulently solicited customers throughout the United States and the United Kingdom to invest in Raptor Capital to trade commodity futures contracts on the S&P 500, Dow, and NASDAQ indices. The order also finds that Kis committed fraud by issuing false account statements reporting profitable commodity futures trading, when his trading activity resulted in continual and substantial losses.
The order further finds that Kis committed other violations in his operation of Raptor Capital by failing to register with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor and a commodity pool operator, failing to provide required disclosure documents to participants, and accepting participants’ money in his own name.
The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the Securities Division of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance in this matter. The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this case: Glenn I. Chernigoff, Gretchen L. Lowe, and Vincent McGonagle.
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