Two Indians sued in US for illegal trading worth $118,000

An Indian mother-son duo have been sued by US authorities for allegedly engaging in an illegal trading scheme to earn more than $118,000.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Deepak Singhal, a California resident, and his mother Meera Singhal, who lives in India.

In its complaint, CFTC said the mother-son duo were engaged in transactions in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and trading non-competitively in violation of a CFTC regulation, or aiding and abetting such violations.

The complaint, filed on January 9, alleged that since at least December 16, 2010, through December 29, 2010, they were engaged in a series of illegal commodity options transactions involving several types of foreign currency options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), specifically 424 non-competitive, fictitious trades.

"Through this allegedly illegal scheme, Deepak Singhal's account transferred profits of at least USD 118,868.75 to Meera Singhal's account, according to the complaint," the statement said.

In its continuing litigation, the CFTC seeks a return of ill-gotten gains, restitution, civil monetary penalties, trading and registration bans, and permanent injunctions against further violations of the federal commodities laws.